In funding endgame, all roads lead to border wall

WASHINGTON — Sooner or later, President Donald Trump will have to confront the political reality that Congress is extremely unlikely to provide the $5 billion he wants to finance the wall he wants built along the U.S.-Mexico border.

That realization has to occur in less than a month, with the House and Senate both in session for only 12 legislative days before the current stopgap funding measure expires Dec. 7.

And the longer policymakers delay in figuring out how to handle the divisive wall project, the more likely it is Congress will have to punt the remaining seven fiscal 2019 spending bills into the new year, including the Homeland Security measure, which funds Customs and Border Protection construction accounts.

The dispute to some extent has to be resolved before appropriators can move forward on outstanding appropriations bills, including a four-bill package that’s been sitting in conference since September. That’s because every dollar claimed for other programs is a dollar taken away from making Trump’s $5 billion wish come true.

There’s also the question of additional disaster aid in the wake of the latest deadly California wildfire outbreak. The Senate Appropriations Committee’s ranking member, Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., told reporters Monday his committee was preparing to add $720 million in emergency funds to a year-end spending bill. That amount could increase as other disaster needs are tallied, such as rebuilding after hurricanes Michael and Florence.

But Trump has taken issue with California’s management of fire prevention programs, indicating that more money for wildfire suppression could also get caught up in the transactional nature of Trump’s negotiating style.

“Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!” Trump tweeted over the weekend. That’s a dicey way to start negotiations with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, who’s in line to take over the speaker’s gavel next year.