Lawmakers working to prevent shutdown
WASHINGTON — Buoyed by the sudden likelihood of a budget pact, lawmakers are on track avoid a repeat of last month’s government shutdown — though President Donald Trump unexpectedly raised the possibility of closing things down again if he can’t have his way on immigration.
“I’d love to see a shutdown if we can’t get this stuff taken care of,” Mr. Trump declared Tuesday. “If we have to shut it down because the Democrats don’t want safety … let’s shut it down.”
Mr. Trump’s comments were strikingly disconnected from the progress on Capitol Hill, where leaders of both parties were optimistic Tuesday, though no agreement was finalized with less than three days until a spending deadline. The House passed a shortterm spending measure Tuesday
night and Senate leaders were closing in on a larger, long-term pact amid a Thursday-night deadline. The broader agreement would award whopping spending increases to both the Pentagon and domestic federal programs, as well as approve overdue disaster relief money and, perhaps, crucial legislation to increase the government’s borrowing limit and avoid possible default.
Democratic leaders have dropped their strategy of using the funding fight to extract concessions on immigration, specifically on seeking extended protections for the “Dreamer” immigrants who have lived in the country illegally since they were children. Instead, the Democrats prepared to cut a deal that would reap tens of billions of dollars for other priorities — including combatting opioids — while taking their chances on solving the immigration impasse later.
And the president’s brash comments — which came a week after he called for a grand compromise with Democrats on the legal status of the undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers — drew instant rebuke from lawmakers, including one of the Republicans attending the roundtable event.
“We don’t need a government shutdown on this,” said Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., whose district in the Washington suburbs is home to many federal workers. Both parties want to resolve the issues, she added.
Mr. Trump interrupted her: “You can say what you want. We’re not getting support from the Democrats on this legislation.”
Speaking over him, Ms. Comstock continued to make her case saying the bill should go the Senate for a vote and suggest changes in policy to deport suspected gang members.
But Mr. Trump ended the exchange with a curt “Thanks, Barbara,” and looked away.
“Iwould shut it down over this issue,” he said later in response to a question from a reporter.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that Mr. Trump was not pushing for the inclusion of immigration policies in the budget accord, something that would upend the sensitive talks.
Mr. Trump’s threat of a shutdown seemed to have little effect on the delicate negotiations on Capitol Hill to pave the way for longterm deal to fund the government.
Tuesday night’s 245-182 House vote, mostly along party lines, set the machinery in motion. The six-week stopgap spending bill contains increases for the military that long have been demanded by Mr. Trump and his GOP allies. But the measure appears increasingly likely to be rewritten by the Senate to include legislation implementing the brewing broader budget pact.
The budget negotiations, conducted chiefly by the Senate’s top leaders, Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Chuck Schumer of New York, have intensified in recent days — and the looming government shutdown at midnight Thursday added urgency to the talks.