Well, okay, but it looks increasingly like the fight will be waged in the fall, when Congress works to pass the funding bills for next year. like Trump appears to be putting up the white flag for the current spending fight, which will fund the government through September.

If he won’t do it now, Trump must make the Democrats cave on building the wall in the fall. He was elected on this issue more than any other. He should allow the Democrats to shut down the government, whatever is needed. Otherwise, if preserving the culture and stemming massive illegal immigration is not non-negotiable, then there was no point to this election.

The Wall Street Journal has a good suggestion: End the filibuster for appropriations bills. I have no doubt that’s what the Democrats would do. The filibuster is not in the Constitution. If the Founders wanted it to be more difficult to pass legislation in the Senate, they would have prescribed a super-majority vote.