Democrats are using public outrage over this month’s mass shootings in Texas and Ohio to try pressuring President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on curbing gun violence and investigating white supremacists.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office says the New York Democrat wants Trump to divert $5 billion he’s sought to build a wall along the southern border to instead investigate domestic terrorism and research gun violence.
No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer and colleagues planned a Tuesday news conference to press McConnell to allow a vote on House-passed legislation requiring background checks for most gun purchases.
Trump and McConnell have long opposed many gun control measures.
Both have expressed an openness to unspecified curbs since 31 people were killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.