Trump doesn’t like border deal, but doesn’t expect another shutdown
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was “unhappy” with the border security funding agreement crafted by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, throwing the fate of the spending plan into question days before the government would shut down again.
“I can’t say I’m thrilled,” Trump said at the White House. “I have to study it. I’m not happy about it. It’s not doing the trick, but I’m adding things to it.”
But he also said he doesn’t expect the government to shut down again, just weeks after a record 35-day partial stop in federal programs.
Top Republicans in the Senate implored Trump to sign the proposal, but rank-and-file lawmakers were more skeptical.
The $1.3 billion deal — which allows for border fencing but no walls — was reached late Monday. Legislative text is not expected to be released until Wednesday, said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., one of the top appropriators who crafted the plan.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the deal is “not everything the president hoped to get but I think it’s a good step in the right direction. I hope he’ll decide to sign it. We’re all quite interested in that, as you can imagine.”
Republicans are understandably gun-shy. In December, the GOP-controlled Senate approved an earlier border deal — also without border wall funding — with the understanding that Trump would support it. But under pressure from conservatives, the president then reversed his position, complaining the Senate plan did not provide money for a border wall. When Democrats failed to agree to provide $5.7 billion for a wall along the southern border, the government shut down.
This time, Republicans want to make sure Trump supports the deal before they vote.
“We’ll just have to see,” Shelby said. “He could sign it. I think he’ll probably sign it. But he might not.”
“Nobody’s humming ‘One Shining Moment’ yet. I’m certainly not,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., referring to the song traditionally played at the end of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., a member of the conference committee that put together the plan, said he hadn’t seen the details yet and expressed skepticism. “I haven’t signed off on the reported ‘deal’ nor have I seen it,” he wrote on Twitter. “Based on the reports, I have concerns. Lots of questions too.”
Shelby and other GOP leaders framed the plan as a “down payment” on the wall. In recent weeks, Trump has backed down from his demand for a concrete wall, and Republicans say fencing would be just as good as a wall. But Trump has also said that if Congress does not provide taxpayer funds for a wall, he will use his executive power or declare a national emergency to try to divert money from other military or disaster programs for a wall. Many GOP lawmakers are encouraging Trump to divert existing money, though some oppose declaring an emergency to do so.
The tentative plan calls for $1.375 billion in border fencing, well short of what Trump originally demanded for a wall, and even less than the $1.6 billion in fencing offered by Senate Democrats in December to avoid the shutdown.