Trump signs budget even though his wall didn't get fully funded

SEN. RAND PAUL

Sen. Rand Paul , who urged a veto, doubts if anyone has read the 2,232 page budget bill before voting on it.

DONALD TRUMP said today (March 23) he has signed the 2,232-page, $1.3 trillion spending bill that the House and Senate approved Wednesday (March 21), funding the government through September and preventing a government shutdown.

The announcement came hours after the president threatened to veto the bill because it did not provide enough funding for the Damn Wall on the Mexican border or a final resolution for immigrants brought to the country as children under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Let's get this straight: Trump doesn't care about the DACA immigrants. First, he was the one who rescinded DACA simply because it was initiated by President Obama and set up an artificial deadline for a Congressional fix. Trump was only using DACA as a bargaining chip to pass his harsh, radical reform of immigration policies and to build his Damn Wall.

“While this agreement includes funding for many important programs for Hawaii and the country, I am deeply disappointed that it does not protect the 1.8 million Dreamers Donald Trump unnecessarily put at risk when he canceled DACA," said Hawaii's Sen. Mazie Hirono.

"The president created this crisis, and he has sabotaged every effort we’ve made to protect Dreamers," she said.

The fate of 130,000 Asian Dreamers out of the 700,000 to 800,000 young people in the DACA program, are still in a holding pattern after a federal judge ruled that the program must continue to operate until Congress can come up with a bill to resolve their uncertain status. Besides the Dreamers, hundreds of thousands would-be DACA participants who didn't join the program, await the legislation that would settle their status.

RELATED: 

• What did Congress just pass for immigrants?
• Dreamers still in limbo

“DACA recipients have been treated extremely badly by the Democrats. We wanted to include DACA, we wanted to have them in this bill,” Trump said. “The Democrats would not do it." He neglected to say that he was the one to set an artificial deadline for the program's end and that he nexed bipartisan proposals that included relief for the DACA participants..

Trump was clearly irked by the reduced level of border security funding. While Republicans and Trump have said the bill funds Trump's "wall," it was far short of the $25 billion they initially wanted. Instead only $1.6 billion will go to the wall. After displaying the temperment of a spoiiled child that didn't get what he wanted during the bill's signing, by Wednesday night, Trump tweeted that he “Got $1.6 Billion to start Wall on Southern Border, rest will be forthcoming.”

Democrats and some Republicans sought to extend the DACA program but Trump reportedly did not want to give the undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship as part of that deal, as Democrats wanted.

At least one Democrat preferred a Trump veto. "I agree with Rep @Jim_Jordan. Republican leadership didn't just drop a 2300 page spending bill at night. They also forced a rule waiver that made rank & file Members of Congress vote for the $1.3 trillion bill in less than 24 hours. That is outrageous," said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA, who has opposed Trump in almost all other matters.

“This bill reflects priorities that are very different from the president’s. In many ways—and particularly on education, affordable housing, healthcare, and clean energy—it is a strong repudiation of Donald Trump’s misplaced priorities," said Hirono. "I hope this bill connotes a sustained Congressional commitment to stand up for our families and communities."

Among the other items included in the bill:

Gun violence prevention: Modest steps to address gun violence by strengthening the background check system to prevent dangerous individuals from owning a gun -- and explicit language that says that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can conduct gun violence research.

Health care: A $3 billion increase in funding for medical research -- while not defunding Planned Parenthood.

Child care and education: A $610 million increase for Head Start, a program that helps educate kids whose families live below the poverty level.

Climate, environment: A rejection of this White House's plan to cut the EPA by 30%. This bill will increase funding by $763 million, including $300 million each for Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Funds.

2020 Census: A funding increase of $1.4 billion -- more than double what the flawed administration plan requested -- to make sure we accurately count our population, and don't leave anyone behind.

Opioids epidemic: A $3.2 billion increase in funding to fight the latest scourge.

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