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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Thursday that Congress would be addressing the issue of the border wall and that they had determined the cost to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 billion to $15 billion, CNN reported from the annual Republican retreat in Philadelphia.
Responding to a question from CNN's Manu Raju about Presdient Donald Trump's insistence that Mexico would pay for the border wall, McConnell said, "We intend to address the wall issue ourselves," adding: "The president can deal with his relations with other countries on that issue and other issues."
Mitch McConnell: The border wall will cost roughly $12 billion to $15 billion dollars https://t.co/QNNuaN9hDZ https://t.co/xXiGkm4Sqb— CNN Politics (@CNN Politics) 1485442754.0
According to CNN, neither Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) nor McConnell discussed the specifics of paying for the wall, but they did indicate that they expect Trump to submit a plan for payment.
"We anticipate a supplemental [budget] coming from the administration," Ryan said. "The point is we're going to finance the Secure Fence Act."
The Blaze recently reported that Trump had shifted his thinking on who might pay for the wall. He campaigned on a platform of asking Mexico to pay for the wall that would ultimately separate the two nations. However, his recent statements on Twitter, confirmed by GOP leaders, are an indication he will attempt to fund the wall border using the appropriations process as early as April 2017 and ask Mexico to reimburse for the cost.
