Sean Hannity issued a veto on Monday after news that federal negotiators had reached a deal to avoid a second government shutdown at the end of the week. On his Fox News program, Hannity called the deal “garbage” and warned Republicans that he would be keeping a close eye on who ultimately supported it.
“On this new, so-called compromise, I’m getting details, 1.3 billion and not even a wall or barrier,” Hannity said. “I am going to tell this tonight and we will get back into this tomorrow. Any Republican that supports this garbage compromise, you will have to explain.”
The deal was first announced late Monday by Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby.
“We’ve had a good evening. We reached an agreement in principle between us,” he said, according to multiple media reports Monday, though details of the deal were scant.
It’s unclear how Hannity managed to get the information he reported on air. A rep for him at Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.
President Trump is a regular viewer of the program and the two are known to have private conversations. Criticism from Hannity and other conservative critics like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh were widely credited with pushing Trump into launching the first government shutdown, which went on to become the longest in history.
As it was then, the sticking point continues to be funding for Trump’s long promised wall along the Mexican border. The president has demanded more than five billion in funds to begin construction. The House of Representatives, now led by Democrats, has refused, with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi calling the wall an “immorality.”
Though there is little appetite for another shutdown in either party, Hannity’s objection could be a sign that the latest deal may not fly at the White House.