Trump ‘positive’ on border security
President Donald Trump appears to be taking a more positive view of Capitol Hill talks on border security, according to negotiators who struck a distinctly optimistic tone after a White House meeting with a top Republican on the broad parameters of a potential bipartisan agreement.
Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama said yesterday’s session in the Oval Office was ‘‘the most positive meeting I’ve had in a long time’’.
Down Pennsylvania Avenue at the Capitol, the mood among negotiators was distinctly upbeat, with participants in the talks between the Democraticcontrolled House and Gop-held Senate predicting a deal could come as early as this weekend.
There’s a February 15 deadline to enact the measure or a stopgap spending bill to avert another partial government shutdown that neither side wants to reprise. Trump and Republicans are especially eager to avoid another shutdown after they got scalded by the last one.
Trump had previously called the talks a ‘‘waste of time’’ and had threatened to declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and build a wall on the Us-mexico border.
But Shelby said Trump during their meeting ‘‘urged me to get to yes’’ on an agreement. Publicly, Trump took a wait-and-see approach.
‘‘I certainly hear that they are working on something and both sides are moving along,’’ Trump said. ‘‘We’ll see what happens. We need border security. We have to have it. It’s not an option.’’
The White House is committed to letting the negotiations play out, with some saying they are ‘‘cautiously optimistic’’ about getting a deal they could live with, said a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Beyond the border security negotiations, the measure is likely to contain seven appropriations bills funding domestic agencies and the foreign aid budget, as well as disaster aid for victims of last year’s hurricanes and western wildfires.
‘‘I’m hopeful,’’ said Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, R-KY. ‘‘I do like the idea of getting all of last year’s work finished and I hope that’s where it ends up.’’
Any move by Trump to fund a border barrier by executive fiat, however, would roil many Republicans on Capitol Hill, raising the likelihood that both House and Senate could pass legislation to reverse him. Trump could veto any such measure, but he’s also certain to face a challenge in the courts.
‘‘If Congress won’t participate or won’t go along, we’ll figure out a way to do it with executive authority,’’ Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said on Thursday.
Mulvaney said that the administration had identified well more than $5.7 billion (NZ$8.4B) to transfer to wall construction, saying they would try to avoid legal obstacles.
It’s clear that Trump won’t get anything close to the $5.7b he’s demanded for wall construction, just as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-calif., will have to depart from her view that there shouldn’t be any wall funding at all. –