GOP pushes spending bill

Party works to contain strife

WASHINGTON — Top Republicans tried quelling GOP divisions over the budget and a partisan immigration clash simmered in the background as leaders labored Tuesday to push a short-term spending bill through Congress by week’s end and avert a partial government shutdown.

Republican leaders postponed a planned House vote on the temporary spending measure from Wednesday until Thursday, buying time to iron out disputes with conservatives seeking tighter budget curbs. The delay underscored the clout conservatives wield within the House GOP as leaders work to avoid a shutdown that would deal the latest blow to a party that has strained all year to show it can govern effectively.

There seemed to be little taste by most in either party, at least for now, to shutter agency doors with 2018 midterm elections for control of Congress coming into view. That included at the White House, where President Donald Trump often revels in conflict and unpredictable tactics that members of his own party consider counterproductive.

“It’s always a possibility, but it’s certainly not what we hope for,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of a potential shutdown. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will join GOP leaders for a White House meeting with Trump on Thursday.

Schumer couldn’t resist touting his and Pelosi’s abrupt refusal to attend a budget summit last week after Trump disparaged their views on immigration and taxes and said no deal was in sight.