The possibility of another government shutdown is “next to nil” according to Tennessee Rep. Chuck Fleischmann.
The Republican Congressman was asked Friday about the shutdown during an interview on “Fox & Friends.” Fleischmann said that the chance of another shutdown is “nil, or next to nil.”
He went to on to say “In this situation, there is no appetite on either side of the aisle and I think in either chamber for another partial government shutdown,” Politico reports.
Fleischmann is a member of the bipartisan conference committee that is tasked with reaching a deal on border security. His comments come two weeks after President Donald Trump announced that his administration and Congress reached a deal to temporarily reopen the government after 35 days, the longest government shutdown in U.S. History.
However, a stopgap spending bill runs out next Friday. If a compromise is not made, then the country would face another shutdown.
The main point of the contention is still centered on Trump’s border wall. The president wants $5.7 billion allocated to build a wall on the U.S. – Mexico border. His opposition has said that walls are ineffective against immigration issues and that the way would be a waste of government money.
Trump has threatened to issue a “national emergency” in order to get the wall built, should the money not be allocated for its construction.
On Friday, Fleischmann suggested that there would likely be some money allocated toward border protection, but did not specify whether that protection would be a fence, wall, or another type of barrier.