Bid to end US border dispute

THE US Congress has aimed to end a dispute over border security with legislation that would ignore President Donald Trump’s request for $5.7 billion (R80.7bn) to help build a wall on the US-Mexico border but avoid a partial government shutdown.

On Wednesday negotiators put the finishing touches on legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through September 30, the end of the fiscal year, along with a range of other federal agencies.

Racing against a Friday deadline, when operating funds expire for the agencies that employ about 800 000 workers at the DHS, the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice and others, the Senate and House of Representatives aimed to pass the legislation yesterday.

That would give Trump time to review the measure before temporary funding for about one-quarter of the government expires.

Failure to do so would shutter many government programmes, from national parks maintenance and air traffic controller training programmes to the collection and publication of important data for financial markets, for the second time this year.

According to congressional aides, the final version of legislation would give Trump $1.37bn to help build 88.5km of new physical barriers on the south-west border, far less than he had been demanding.

Trump has not yet said whether he will sign the legislation into law if the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and Republican-led Senate approve it, even as many of his fellow Republicans in Congress are urging him to do so.