President Donald Trump’s border wall and proposed cuts to domestic programs will not be funded under a $1 trillion-plus government-wide funding deal that Republicans and Democrats agreed upon Sunday night, April 30.
President Donald Trump’s border wall and proposed cuts to domestic programs will not be funded under a $1 trillion-plus government-wide funding deal that Republicans and Democrats agreed upon Sunday night, April 30.
The Associated Press reports the funding deal will take care of day-to-day operations of nearly every agency through the end of 2017 budget year. This bipartisan agreement means that the threat of a government shutdown has been all but eliminated.
Some of the proposed cuts rejected in the government spending tab include those to medical research and infrastructure grants. Trump enjoyed a victory in the form of $1.5 billion in funding for “border security, ” which A. P. reports will cover more than 5,000 detention beds and upgrade border surveillance technology.
CNN has a list of what the bipartisan funding bill will cover, as it reports through what Democratic and Republican aides confirmed to the network. In addition to the $1.5 billion border security funding, there will be no federal cuts to sanctuary cities or planned parenthood. There will be an increase in clean energy, science and National Institute of Health funding, and restoration of pell grants.
The government will also provide $295 million in Medicaid for Puerto Rico, as will as a disaster package for California, West Virginia, North Carolina and Louisiana.
“This agreement is a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table, ” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told A. P.
“The bill ensures taxpayer dollars aren’t used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison pill riders, and increases investments in programs that the middle class relies on, like medical research, education and infrastructure.”
Throughout the campaign and the infancy of his presidency Trump promised that Mexico would pay for a border wall before seeking $1.4 billion in taxpayer money for the wall and “related costs.” A. P. reports that Trump pulled back on these demands and said the border wall issue could wait until the fall.
In an April 29 speech to supporters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Trump insisted that he still plans to build the border wall.
“… don’t worry we’re going to have the wall, don’t worry about it, ” Trump said, stopping his thought mid-sentence, during the speech. “We’ve done so well at the border, a lot of people are saying ‘oh wow, maybe the president doesn’t need the wall.’
“We need the wall to stop the drugs and the human trafficking, we need the wall.”
The agreement on the spending bill needs to be passed in the House and Senate by midnight Friday to avoid a government shutdown.
