Once again, the most important thing a President and Chief Executive can do, is to make our representative system of government work as well as it can. A prolonged government shutdown will harm a lot of people.
Legislative riders, that is unrelated policy issues tied to funding or other legislation are not a good way to govern. As an independent president, I would likely return such bills to the congress asking instead for single purpose clean legislation. Short term funding bills are also a disfunctional way to run the government. It would be best to fund continuing government programs and services and leave controversial issues to separate legislation.
This is a difficult controversy and the president’s role should be to try to resolve it, and not to take sides.
As much as I support DACA, and an end to the appalling cruelty of current immigration policies, these and similar unrelated issues do not belong in a funding bill.
