Wall row seems near resolution
WASHINGTON: Congress is set to resolve its clattering brawl with President Donald Trump in uncommonly bipartisan fashion as lawmakers prepare to pass a border security compromise providing a mere sliver of the billions he’s demanded for a wall with Mexico and averting a rekindled government shutdown this weekend.
With Mr Trump’s halfhearted signature widely expected but hardly guaranteed, congressional leaders planned votes yesterday on the sweeping package. Passage first by the Republican-led Senate, then the Democratic-controlled House, was virtually certain, with sizeable numbers of both parties’ members set to vote “yes.’’ Bargainers formally completed the accord moments before midnight on Wednesday.
“I’m sure it’s going to pass. I don’t know of any drama,’’ said House Democrats’ chief vote-counter, Rep James Clyburn.
Mr Trump’s assent would end a raucous legislative saga that commenced before Christmas and was ending, almost fittingly, on Valentine’s Day. The low point was the historically long 35-day partial federal shutdown, which Mr Trump sparked and was in full force when Democrats took control of the House, compelling him to share power for the first time.
When Mr Trump yielded on Jan 25 after public opinion turned against him and congressional Republicans, he’d won not a nickel of the US$5.7 billion (178 billion baht) he’d demanded for his wall but had caused missed wages for legions of federal workers and federal contractors and lost services for countless others. It was a political fiasco for Mr Trump and an early triumph for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The fight left both parties dead set against another shutdown. That sentiment weakened Mr Trump’s hand and fuelled the bipartisan deal, a pact that contrasts with the parties’ still-raging differences over health care, taxes and investigations of the president.
The product of nearly three weeks of talks, the agreement provides almost $1.4 billion for new barriers along the boundary. That’s less than the $1.6 billion for border security in a bipartisan Senate bill that Mr Trump spurned months ago, and enough for building just 88 kilometres of barricades, not the 320-plus kilometres he’d sought. Notably, the word “wall” — which fuelled many a chant at Trump campaign events and rallies as president — does not appear once in the 1,768 pages of legislation and explanatory materials. “Barriers” and “fencing” are the nouns of choice.
The compromise would also gradually pressure Immigration and Customs Enforcement to gradually detain fewer unauthorised immigrants. To the dismay of Democrats, it would still leave an agency many of them consider abusive holding thousands more immigrants than it did last year.
The measure contains money for improved surveillance equipment, more customs agents and humanitarian aid for detained immigrants. The overall bill also provides $330 billion to finance dozens of federal agencies for the rest of the year.
Mr Trump has talked about augmenting the agreement by diverting money from other programmes for wall construction, without congressional sign-off. He might declare a national emergency, which has drawn opposition from both parties.