Lawmakers are rushing to pass a bipartisan border deal that would prevent a looming government shutdown and resolve the long-standing impasse over President Trump’s…
Lawmakers are rushing to pass a bipartisan border deal that would prevent a looming government shutdown and resolve the long-standing impasse over President Trump’s border wall.
Democratic leaders said they expect the House to pass the funding package Thursday night, giving senators across the Capitol a little more than 24 hours to vote and send it to Trump for his expected signature. Parts of the government will shut down on Saturday if a new funding bill has not been signed into law.
Lawmakers had yet to even see legislation on Wednesday evening, meaning many in Congress are likely to cast votes on the bill without reading many of its details. Democrats said they planned to unveil the legislation Wednesday night.
Democrats are broadly backing the legislation, which has also won the support of Senate GOP leaders.
But the top two Republicans in the House — Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (La.) — said Wednesday they would not commit to voting for the deal until they got a chance to read the bill’s text.
“I want to make sure we have enough time to thoroughly read the bill,” McCarthy told reporters. “Why would anybody say they are voting for something they have not read yet?”
To try to slow things down, the far-right House Freedom Caucus rolled out a one-week stopgap funding bill, or continuing resolution (CR), to buy lawmakers more time to read the bill — an effort that will be ignored by Democrats who control the floor.
Dozens of Republicans are expected to vote no on the deal, with one leadership ally predicting there could be as many as 140 GOP defections during the Thursday roll call. That would mean, rather than a big bipartisan vote in the House, newly empowered Democrats largely would be responsible for pushing the funding bill across the finish line.
Trump has been critical of the legislation, and while he is widely expected to sign it he has not flatly said that he would. He called Democrats “stingy” for failing to deliver the $5.7 billion he had been demanding for his wall on the southern border.
At the same time, he signaled Wednesday that he didn’t have the appetite for another shutdown after the 35-day closure in December and January left more voters blaming the White House than Democrats.
