David Dayen

Well, Henry Cuellar, a conservative Dem facing a primary, wanted a river walk in his district in Laredo. The law had to be changed to allow federal funding to go to different border designs (to add a retaining wall to the Rio Grande). That got into this spending bill.

In exchange for federal $$ for a one-mile river walk, the Trump admin will get to quickly build more wall in Cuellar's south Texas district. He voted against the bill but took credit for other language in it, and all evidence points to him brokering this river walk compromise.