House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Friday he doesn't agree with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border would be immoral, but he does think it's a waste of money and won't be effective.
"For me, it's a practical issue," the Maryland Democrat told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "Is it effective? Will it work? Is it the best thing we can do to secure the border? Most of the people I talk to, including on the border, don't think it is."
Thursday, Trump said he plans to decide in the next few days if he'll declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and to build the wall, and Hoyer said Friday that Democrats are worried that he'll use the threat of a shutdown again at another time to force his agenda in office.
"We have to stop using the shutdown of the people's government as a strategy to obtain our objectives," said Hoyer.
The lawmaker, also appearing on CNN's "New Day," said the first priority is getting the government open and getting employees back to work.
"It is not the proper pursuit to treat our federal employees, and hundreds of millions of people served by government are out in the cold today because their government is shut down," said Hoyer. "The second thing is to look at the legislation that provides for the Congress to act in the face of the president declaring an emergency. We don't believe this is a national emergency. We think the president will not be sustained by the courts."
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