Sources: Catchall budget deal hit
In it, Trump wins some, loses some
WASHINGTON — U.S. House and Senate negotiators reached a tentative bipartisan deal Sunday night on a $1.1 trillion bill to keep the government open through the end of the budget year in September, according to Republican and Democratic aides.
Aides to lawmakers involved in the talks announced the agreement after weeks of negotiations. Its provisions were described on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement planned for today. A vote could be held as early as Tuesday.
The House and Senate have until midnight Friday to pass a measure to avert a government shutdown.
The catchall spending bill would be the first major piece of bipartisan legislation to advance during President Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House. It rejects $18 billion in cuts to popular domestic programs targeted by Trump, such as medical research and infrastructure grants.
The bill does give Trump a down payment of at least $15 billion on his request to strengthen the military — however $2.5 billion of that is contingent on the administration delivering a new plan to fight the Islamic State extremist group.
The bill does not include funding for a wall that Trump wants to build along the U.S.-Mexico border, but it does include $1.5 billion for border security measures. Aides said that money comes with strict limitations: It cannot be used for new wall construction or more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. It can be used for technology investments, repairs to existing fencing and infrastructure, and for
items such as additional detention beds.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said they were able to force Republicans to withdraw more than 160 unrelated policy measures, known as riders, including those that would have cut environmental funding and scaled back financial regulations on Wall Street. Such riders are called “poison pills,” designed to kill the legislation.
“This agreement is a good agreement for the American people and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table,” Schumer said. “The bill ensures taxpayer dollars aren’t used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison pill riders and increases investments in programs that the middle class relies on, like medical research, education and infrastructure.”
But the package does include a key priority for Schumer and Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.: $68 million to reimburse local law enforcement agencies for the cost of protecting Trump when he travels to his residences in Florida and New York.
The spending deal includes money for Planned Parenthood. Although Republicans have urged that the government defund the group over its provision of abortions, anti-abortion lawmakers didn’t attempt to use the must-pass measure to try to cut its funds. If the bill passes, the legislation will ensure that Planned Parenthood continues to receive federal funding through September.
The White House also backed away from language to take away grants from “sanctuary cities” that do not share information about people’s immigration status with federal authorities.
Among the final issues resolved was a Democratic request to help the cashstrapped government of Puerto Rico with its Medicaid burden, a top priority of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. Pelosi and other Democrats came up short of the $500 million or so they had sought, but under the agreement they secured $295 million for the island, more than Republicans had initially offered.
Democrats praised a $2 billion funding increase for the National Institutes of Health’s $30.3 billion discretionary budget, which Trump had targeted for a $5.8 billion cut. There is also an additional $100 million to combat opioid abuse, money to fund Pell Grants for summer school and funding to boost transit.
Trump had sought to cut the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 31 percent. The proposal announced Sunday cuts its budget by 1 percent, none of which would be through staffing cuts, according to a senior congressional aide.
The deal also increases spending on the Department of Energy. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy would get a $17 million increase, and the Office of Science would get a boost of $42 million compared with fiscal 2016 funding levels, the aide said. Trump wanted to eliminate the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which funds experimental energy research. The proposed agreement increases its budget by $15 million.
Among the funding measures supported by Democrats and Republicans are $407 million in wildfire relief for western states and a decision to permanently extend a program that provides health care coverage for coal miners. That coverage was a goal for senators led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and several Appalachia region Democrats, and will cover 22,000 retired Appalachian coal miners and their families.
House Republicans also succeeded in securing funding for another round of private school vouchers for students in Washington, D.C.’s school system.
“The agreement will move the needle forward on conservative priorities and will ensure that the essential functions of the federal government are maintained,” said Jennifer Hing, a spokesman for House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J.
While Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House, congressional Democrats held some leverage in the talks. The Senate needs 60 votes to advance legislation without a filibuster, meaning the 52 Republicans will need help from at least eight Democrats to pass the measure.
Information for this article was contributed by Andrew Taylor of The Associated Press; by Billy House, Erik Wasson, Laura Litvan, Steven T. Dennis and Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg News; and by Kelsey Snell of The Washington Post.