Trump takes a break from wall funding
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump stepped back Monday from demanding a down payment for his border wall in must-pass spending legislation, potentially removing a major obstacle to a bipartisan deal just days ahead of a government shutdown deadline.
Mr. Trump told a gathering of around 20 conservative media reporters Monday evening that he would be willing to return to the wall funding issue in September, according to two people who were in the room. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the get-together, which was not originally intended to be on the record.
Congressional appropriators, who are often happy to spend money together with short-term spending bills, just days ago seemed on a glide path to quietly do so, until Mr. Trump belatedly intervened, insisting on using the bill to get a down payment on a wall at the Mexican border
The border wall money is fiercely opposed by Democrats, whose votes are needed to pass the government-wide spending legislation that comes due Friday at midnight. The wall is also unpopular with many Republicans, and GOP negotiators on Capitol Hill were uneasy about the clash over the wall potentially sparking a government shutdown.
Earlier on Monday, Republican congressional leaders were negotiating with White House officials, who have been pressing for wall funding and a mechanism to take some funding from the Affordable Care Act. The House returns on Tuesday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who has a key role providing Democratic votes to pass the legislation, welcomed Mr. Trump’s reported shift on the wall.
“Now the bipartisan and bicameral negotiators can continue working on the outstanding issues,” Mr. Schumer said late Monday.
The wall was the most pressing issue confronting lawmakers as they returned from a two-week spring recess to face a critical deadline. Congress must pass a $1 trillion catch-all spending bill to pay for all agencies of government or trigger a partial shutdown Saturday, which happens to coincide with the 100th day of Mr. Trump’s presidency.
Sonny Perdue confirmed
The Senate on Monday confirmed former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to be agriculture secretary in Mr. Trump’s administration as the farming industry looks to Washington for help amid a downturn in the market.
The son of a farmer from Bonaire, Ga., Mr. Perdue will be the first Southerner in the post in more than two decades. He has owned several agricultural businesses.
Corporate tax rate
Mr. Trump reportedly is pursuing a drastic cut in the corporate tax rate, a move that is expected to grow the national debt and breach a long-held Republican goal of curbing federal borrowing.
The president has instructed advisers to propose cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent, according to White House officials who said they were not authorized to speak publicly about the plan.
Mar-a-Lago blog post
The State Department’s “Share America” website, which shares “compelling stories and images that spark discussion and debate,” published a blog post about the the president’s oceanside Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida ahead of Mr. Trump’s April 6 meeting there with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The post has since been deleted.