WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump moved quickly this week to negotiate with Democrats to try and avert a lengthy government shutdown over Department of\u2026<\/b>
\nPresident Donald Trump moved quickly this week to negotiate with Democrats to try and avert a lengthy government shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding, a sharp departure from last year\u2019s record standoff, when he refused to budge for weeks.
Some Republicans are frustrated with the deal, raising the possible of a prolonged shutdown fight when the House returns Monday to vote on the funding package. But Trump\u2019s sway over the GOP remains considerable, and he has made his position clear at a moment of mounting political strain.
\u201cThe only thing that can slow our country down is another long and damaging government shutdown,\u201d Trump wrote on social media late Thursday.
The urgency marked a clear shift from Trump\u2019s posture during the 43-day shutdown late last year, when he publicly antagonized Democratic leaders and his team mocked them on social media. This time, with anger rising over shootings in Minneapolis and the GOP\u2019s midterm messaging on tax cuts drowned out by controversy, Trump acted quickly to make a deal with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
\u201cTrump and the Republicans know that this is an issue where they\u2019re on the wrong side of the American people and it really matters,\u201d Schumer told reporters Friday after Senate passage of the government funding deal.
Senators returned to work this week dealing with the fallout from the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers, as well as the killing of Renee Good in the city weeks earlier.
Republicans were far from unified in their response. A few called for the firing of top administration officials such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy. Most GOP senators tried to strike a balance, calling for a thorough investigation into Pretti\u2019s killing while backing the hard-line immigration approach that is central to Trump\u2019s presidency.
But many agreed that the shootings threatened public support for Trump\u2019s immigration agenda.
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen a political party take its best issue and turn it into its worst issue in the period of time that it has happened in the last few weeks,\u201d said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. \u201cSome things have to change.\u201d
Democrats quickly coalesced around their key demands.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said there \u201cwas unanimity\u201d around core principles of enforcing a code of conduct for immigration officers and agents, ending \u201croving patrols\u201d for immigration enforcement actions and coordinating with local law enforcement on immigration arrests.
It helped that Trump himself was looking for ways to de-escalate in Minneapolis.
\u201cThe world has seen the videos of those horrible abuses by DHS and rogue operations catching up innocent people, and there\u2019s a revulsion about it,\u201d said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
\u201cThe White House is asking for a ladder off the ledge,\u201d he added.
Republicans are also trying to promote their accomplishments in office as they ready for the November elections and the difficult task of retaining control of both chambers of Congress.
But the prospect of a prolonged shutdown shifted attention away from their $4.5 trillion tax and spending cuts law, the centerpiece of their agenda. Republicans had hoped the beginning of this year\u2019s tax season on Monday would provide a political boost as voters begin to see larger tax refunds.
Republicans are also mindful of the political damage from last year\u2019s shutdown, when they took a slightly larger portion of the blame from Americans than Democrats, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
\u201cThe shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans,\u201d Trump told Republican senators at the White House in November.
On a practical level, this funding standoff threatened to destroy months of bipartisan work, including long hours over the holiday break, to craft the 12 spending bills that fund the government and many priorities back home.
\u201cWe saw what happened in the last government shutdown in regards to how it hurt real, hardworking Americans,\u201d said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. \u201cI don\u2019t want that to happen again.\u201d
The agreement reached this week, if passed by the House, would avoid a prolonged shutdown and fund nearly every federal department through the end of the budget year in September. But it would not resolve one of the most difficult issues for Congress and the White House: DHS funding.
Instead of a full-year deal, funding for the department was extended for just two weeks, giving lawmakers little time to bridge the deep divides over immigration enforcement.
Democrats are pressing for changes they say are necessary to prevent future abuses, including requiring immigration agents to wear body cameras, carry clear identification, end roving patrols in cities and coordinate more closely with local law enforcement when making arrests. Many Democrats also want tighter rules around warrants and accountability mechanisms for officers in the field.
Those demands have met stiff resistance from Republicans. Some are opposed to negotiating with Democrats at all.
\u201cRepublicans control the White House, Senate and House. Why are we giving an inch to Democrats?\u201d Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., wrote on social media.
Republican senators said they would take the fight to Democrats by introducing their own bills, including restrictions on \u201csanctuary cities,\u201d to show their support for Trump\u2019s policies. That term is generally applied to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
\u201cWe\u2019ve let the issue get away. We\u2019re not leading. We\u2019re trying to avoid losing rather than winning,\u201d said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who held up the spending bills until Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed to give him a vote on his sanctuary cities bill at a later date.
Thune acknowledged the difficulty of the next two weeks, saying there are \u201csome pretty significant views and feelings.\u201d
\u201cWe\u2019ll stay hopeful,\u201d Thune told reporters about the upcoming DHS fight. \u201cBut there are some pretty significant differences of opinion.\u201d
___
Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
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