■ GOP leaders plan to get funding for the border wall after the election.

McConnell has not ruled out mini-shutdown to get funding

WASHINGTON — Congress is heading toward a postelection showdown over President Donald Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, as GOP leaders signal they’re willing to engage in hardball tactics that could spark a partial government shutdown and as the president revs up midterm crowds for the wall, a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign and a White House priority.

Trump is promising voters at rallies across the country that Republicans will bring tougher border security in campaign speeches that echo those that propelled him to office two years ago. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., promised a “big fight” over the border wall money, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has not ruled out a mini-shutdown as GOP leaders look to help Trump “get what he’s looking for” on the wall.

“Democrats want to abolish America’s borders and allow drugs and gangs to pour into our country,” Trump said during a swing through Erie, Pa.

“Right after the election we’re doing something very strong on the wall,” Trump added Thursday in an interview on “Fox & Friends.”

Republicans steered clear of shutdown politics ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm election and struck a deal with Democrats earlier this year to fund most of the government into next year. They presented their case to Trump in a White House meeting in September, and the president, who previously warned he would not sign another big budget bill into law without his border funds, signed the legislation before the start of the new budget year Oct. 1.

Left undone, however, is the portion of the government that funds the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the border, and a few other agencies. They’re now running on stopgap funds set to expire Dec. 7.

The deadline sets the stage for a new round of budget brawls.

House Republicans approved $5 billion for Trump’s wall, including physical barriers and technology along the U.S. southern border, in a committee. A bipartisan bill being considered in the Senate allocates $1.6 billion for the wall, short of the $5 billion the White House is seeking as part of a $25 billion, five-year plan to complete the project.