- The Washington Times - Monday, January 22, 2018

Sen. Chris Coons said Monday that he will vote for a short-term spending deal if a long-term plan is guaranteed.

“If I can trust that we will, in fact, in the next three weeks, resolve — and we’re very close to having resolved — the Children’s Health Insurance Program, we can do that today, community health centers, we can do that today, that there will be a vote on a strong bipartisan vote on DACA and border security and that we can deal with investment in defense and domestic priorities,” Mr. Coons, Delaware Democrat, said on CNN.

Mr. Coons said that the military has urged Congress not to operate on these short-term deals anymore, which is why he was resistant to a continuing resolution that only lasted a few weeks. He said he wants to address these issues in a long-term budget plan.

The government shut down after lawmakers failed to reach a budget deal on Friday. Talks continued through the weekend, but yielded no results. Lawmakers are expected to reconvene Monday to try and come to a consensus.

• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.

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