Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) will break with President Trump and vote to reopen the government without funding for a border wall, his spokesman told The Denver Post editorial board. 

Gardner is one of three Republicans expected to vote to advance the “clean” funding bill. 

Gardner’s spokesman told the Post that the senator planned to vote for a “clean funding bill … with no border-security funding attached.”

Gardner, who is up for reelection in 2020 in a state where Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton defeated Trump in 2016, also intends to vote for a measure backed by Trump that the Senate will consider on Thursday. 

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) are also expected to vote for the clean funding bill.

“I’m in the camp of being happy that we’re going to be going to the floor and having an opportunity to vote on proceeding to anything,” Murkowski said. “I’m not very optimistic at its chance of passage but we’ve got to get ourselves off of dead center here.” 

Collins has said she will vote to advance both bills, and Murkowski told The Washington Post that she would definitely vote to move forward with Trump’s bill. 

Both of the measures the Senate is considering on Thursday are expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed to advance.  

The Senate will first take up Trump’s immigration-centric proposal, which asks for $5.7 billion in funding for the wall and would grant protections to some immigrants.

The second proposal involves a two-week stopgap funding bill to fund the government through Feb. 8 and allow time for lawmakers and Trump to reach a long-term deal. 

source: thehill.com