Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday announced plans to roll out a stopgap funding bill that would keep the government running through Feb. 8 and avert a pre-Christmas shutdown.
Mr. McConnell said Democrats rejected an “extremely reasonable offer” on Tuesday, which would have provided $1.6 billion for border security and an additional $1 billion for President Trump to carry out his immigration priorities.
“It seems like political spite for the president may be winning out over sensible policy,” Mr. McConnell said from the Senate floor. “We need the government to remain open for the American people.”
Roughly 75 percent of the federal government’s discretionary accounts are funded through next September, including the defense, health and labor departments.
But lawmakers are facing a midnight Friday deadline to pass legislation to fund the rest or face the prospect of a partial shutdown.
The debate over the remaining 25 percent has become overshadowed by the fight over Mr. Trump’s desired U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Mr. Trump said as recently as last week that he was willing to accept responsibility for a shutdown if Democrats didn’t give in to his demands for $5 billion for the wall in the 2019 homeland security funding bill.
A short-term “continuing resolution” would extend current-year funding for the outstanding departments, and there was $1.3 billion for border security in the 2018 DHS spending bill.
That’s well below the $5 billion Mr. Trump has demanded, and even less than the $1.6 billion in the DHS funding bill that passed out of committee in the Senate earlier this year.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Wednesday it is “good news” that Mr. Trump has “retreated” from his position and that Democrats would support Mr. McConnell’s plan.
Mr. Schumer also rejected talk from the White House that they could reprogram funds from elsewhere to go toward the wall, saying Congress isn’t going to fund the wall by any means.
“It won’t happen,” said Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat.
Mr. Trump said Wednesday on Twitter that “one way or the other, we will win on the Wall!” and that Mexico would be paying indirectly because of a recently negotiated trade agreement.
“Because of the tremendous dangers at the Border, including large scale criminal and drug inflow, the United States Military will build the Wall!” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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