Members of both political parties have left Washington, D.C. for the holidays amid a partial government shutdown, but that didn't stop presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway from criticizing Nancy Pelosi for vacationing in Hawaii.
"Nancy Pelosi needs to come back from Hawaii. Less hula, more moola for the [Department of Homeland Security] and Customs and Border Patrol, funding our border security," Conway said during a Fox News interview yesterday.
She added: "They need to come to the table and do their job. "A fully functioning democracy demands that both parties come together and that the Congress and the executive branch work together."
Internet sleuths soon discovered that right after criticizing Pelosi, Conway flew to West Palm Beach, Florida, for a vacation of her own, an act which made her vulnerable to immediate criticism.
Given Conway's close ties to the president, it's likely she will be present at the New Year's Eve party taking place at Mar-a-Lago tonight, as several people suggested. According to government spending data, the Secret Service paid Grimes Events & Party Tents Inc. of Delray Beach, Florida, $54,020 on December 19 for “TENT RENTAL FOR MAL.”
Conway's criticism prompted Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill to release a statement saying Pelosi had been in her hometown of San Francisco since Saturday. Pelosi is currently back in Washington and plans to work today and tomorrow. Hammill noted that no congressional leaders––Republican or Democrat––are currently in Washington, D.C.
The government has been in a partial shutdown since President Donald Trump opted not to sign a stopgap funding bill which would have avoided a shutdown but did not allocate the $5 billion in funds he'd demanded for his proposed wall on U.S.-Mexico border.
Conway herself has called the debate over the border wall "a silly semantic argument and called $5 billion a "moderate investment."
“It is a silly semantic argument because people who just want to say ‘wall, wall, wall’ want it to be a four-letter word and not respect what Customs and Border Patrol and [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] tell us they need,” Conway told Fox News. “Always saying ‘wall’ or ‘no wall’ is being very disingenuous and turning a complete blind eye to what is a crisis at the border."
She was criticized for those comments, too.
President Trump himself decided to stay in the White House and not go to Mar-a-Lago amid the government shutdown. On Saturday, he wrote he was "waiting for the Democrats to come on over and make a deal on Border Security" but said they were too busy with "Presidential Harassment."
The government shutdown is the third of Trump's presidency. It will likely not be resolved until Democrats are sworn in on January 3.
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