The extended funding for the agencies and departments that had shutdowns for 35 days is 2 days from now….This Friday….
Congressional deal makers have agreed to give the Trump admin $1.375 billion for ‘barriers’ along just 55 miles of the more than 1,950 miles of the US/Mexico border….
For Democrats?
They have tried to keep the money for ICE detentions near or slightly below the levels they where last year….
The problem for Donald Trump is NOBODY wants another government shutdown….
Republicans led by Senate majority leader McConnell have told Trump & Co. that NOT agreeing to their deal could force them to override any veto he might put up…..
That would be a tear in the party that even Trump does not want….
The action will probably have Trump moving to steal money from other admin departments and agencies….
But in the end?
Donald Trump will have access to much less of the American taxpayers money to build something to make his base happy….
Even his buddy Sean Hannity has seen the handwriting on the wall and knows he’ll have to go along with the deal…..
The threat of another government shutdown receded Tuesday as lawmakers lined up behind a fragile border security compromise and President Trump predicted that federal agencies would stay open.
Trump did not publicly endorse the bipartisan agreement, which offers just a fraction of the money he’s sought for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. But with a shutdown deadline looming Friday at midnight, the president suggested he might be able to accept the deal, saying he could take other steps to fund his wall.
“Am I happy at first glance? The answer is no, I’m not, I’m not happy,” Trump told reporters around midday at the White House, as he met with Cabinet members.
“It’s not going to do the trick, but I’m adding things to it, and when you add whatever I have to add, it’s all going to happen where we’re going to build a beautiful, big, strong wall,” Trump said.
Hours later, after speaking on the phone with Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), Trump offered a more positive take. He praised Shelby in a tweet as “hard working,” welcomed increased border security spending in the deal apart from the wall and wrote, “Regardless of Wall money, it is being built as we speak!”
As Trump warmed to the emerging legislation, the House prepared to vote on it as soon as Wednesday evening, according to Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), and action in the Senate could follow Thursday.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said Feb. 12 that the bipartisan agreement to avoid another government shutdown is now in the hands of President Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also briefed Trump, later telling reporters that he hopes to have the president’s support, because “he’s got a pretty good deal here.”
The compromise, which bipartisan negotiators struck late Monday after reviving stalled talks, includes $1.375 billion for 55 miles of new fences along the border, short of the $5.7 billion Trump had sought for 234 miles of steel walls.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle claimed that as a win — Democrats because the figure agreed to is much lower than Trump’s original request, and Republicans because it does give Trump the ability to build some new segments of barriers.
The barriers would be targeted for the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, a priority area for the Border Patrol. The deal also includes compromise language on funding immigrant detention by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Some conservatives attacked the plan in withering terms, but there was a growing acceptance among others on the right that it was likely to become law.
“I think he will sign it, I think the president will sign it,” said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus. “I think he will do so reluctantly. And then obviously have to use executive actions to secure our borders.”……
image..scmp.com