Spend bill drops Dreamers; wall talk continues
WASHINGTON — Negotiators on a $1.3 trillion government spending bill dropped protections for so-called Dreamers and gave President Trump only a partial victory on funding for his U.S.-Mexico border wall as talks entered the final stage yesterday.
A meeting of top congressional leaders produced tentative accords on two tax provisions and a decision to strengthen the criminal background check system for gun purchases. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said an official agreement on the sweeping measure would likely come “very soon.”
GOP aides said that Trump would win $1.6 billion for a border wall and physical barriers along the border, which would construct older wall designs and repair existing segments. But Trump would be denied a more recent, far larger $25 billion request for multi-year funding for the wall project. Democrats said just $641 million would go to new segments of fencing and walls that double as levees.
Negotiators planned to unveil the massive government-wide spending bill later in the day in hopes of passing it before a midnight deadline to avoid a government shutdown.
A senior administration official said the White House is generally happy with the emerging deal. The person said the plan addresses the president’s top priorities, including a large funding increase for the military, border security measures and money to fight the opioid epidemic.
The top four leaders of both House and Senate met yesterday and emerged saying they basically had a deal.
“We’re finalizing,” Ryan told reporters, saying the bill would shortly be made public. “We’re in a good place.”
The bill would give Trump a huge budget increase for the military, while Democrats would cement wins on infrastructure and other domestic programs that they failed to get under former President Barack Obama. It funds a 2.4 percent pay raise for military personnel touted by Republicans.
Battles over budget priorities in the huge bill were all settled, while a handful of nonbudget issues remained, including a GOP effort to fix a poorly drafted section of the recent tax cut law that is harming Midwestern grain companies.
As expected, the measure won’t renew protections for young Dreamerss facing possible deportation. It also won’t provide subsidies to insurers who cut costs for low-earning customers. And it won’t have federal payments to carriers to help them afford to cover their costliest clients.