'Only with Nancy': How Schumer and Pelosi stuck together on the shutdown

Trump has repeatedly tried — and failed — to drive a wedge between the Democratic leaders.

By BURGESS EVERETT and HEATHER CAYGLE 01/20/2019 06:50 AM EST

A few days before Washington staggered into what would become the longest shutdown in U.S. history, Chuck Schumer received a request from Donald Trump.

The president wanted the Senate minority leader to visit the White House to discuss his demands for the border wall, which would need Democratic votes to pass the GOP-controlled Senate. Previously, Schumer had held one-on-one negotiations with Trump. But this time, the New York Democrat had a new condition: “Only with Nancy.”

“We do it all together, that’s an agreement we had from the get-go,” Schumer said of his stance with Speaker Nancy Pelosi on not giving Trump an inch on the wall. “We realize we’re a team,” Schumer added in an interview. “Sometimes we talk strategy four to five times a day. And there are times we disagree. But we come to the same result.”

Republicans have tried to drive a wedge between the duo for more than a month now. They’ve cast Schumer as eager to cut a deal and Pelosi as an impediment. They’ve floated the idea that Pelosi would be more willing to compromise after she was elected speaker. Trump tried again on Saturday, pitching temporary protections for Dreamers and other immigrants, in exchange for $5.7 billion in border wall funding.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/20/pelosi-schumer-trump-shutdown-1115917