Key lawmakers said late today they had reached a tentative agreement over immigration rules and funding for border barriers, a deal that if signed by President Trump would avert another government shutdown set to start at week’s end.
The deal falls far short of Trump’s demands for funding to build more than 200 miles of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
And while congressional negotiators said they were hopeful Trump would sign off on the deal, they said they had not been given assurances.
The breakthrough in Congress came after a slog of meetings between top negotiators in the House and Senate.
The deal is still being vetted with their colleagues, but top lawmakers expressed optimism they had resolved major differences.
“The fact that it looked like there was going to be another shutdown imminently” brought renewed efforts on Monday, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) told reporters after announcing the deal.
Asked if the White House would support the agreement, Shelby said, “We think so. We hope so.”
Right-wing media has already started to attack the proposal.
This is a “garbage compromise” said Sean Hannity on Fox News, urging Trump to reject it.
The framework would provide $1.375 billion for barriers along the border, including 55 miles of new fencing, with certain restrictions on the location.
Democrats backed down from their demand for tight limits on the number of detention beds Immigrations and Customs Enforcement could use to detain undocumented immigrants, pulling away from a push that led to a breakdown in talks over the weekend.
Negotiators felt the deal would prove sufficient to fund all government operations through the end of the September, potentially removing any more shutdown threats for the remainder of the fiscal year.
The White House and congressional leaders have struggled for months to reach an agreement on a government funding bill because of major differences between Democrats and Republicans over immigration policy.
Trump called for using $5.7 billion in taxpayer money to construct more than 200 miles of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats objected to this, and Trump forced a partial government shutdown that began Dec. 22 to try to exert pressure on Congress to act. The shutdown dragged on for 35 days.
The White House and Republicans eventually backed down, agreeing last month to a short-term spending bill for a number of agencies that was meant to give congressional negotiators more time to reach a longer-term deal.