Trample Orangutan wall money...

Congress set to deny Trump wall money

Lawmakers and the White House are eager to step back from the brink of a government shutdown.

By BURGESS EVERETT , JENNIFER SCHOLTES and TARA PALMERI

President Donald Trump is probably not going to get his money for a wall on the border with Mexico this week. But Republicans are confident they can deliver him a significant boost in border security spending that allows Trump to spin the government funding bill as a victory anyway.

Trump has been sending mixed signals on how hard he is pressing for wall funding in a bill that must pass by Friday night to avoid a government shutdown. On Monday evening he signaled to conservative journalists that he would be content fighting for the money in the fall — but on Tuesday he tweeted to his followers to not the believe the “fake media” reporting on a change in position.

Still, aides, senators and White House officials said on Tuesday that Trump is coming to terms with the reality that pushing for wall funding would invite a shutdown fight due to Democrats’ blanket opposition.

“It sounds like they’re moving away from that insistence,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), who wants Trump to submit a comprehensive border security plan to Congress.

“The wall has become sort of a code word for border security,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who had dinner with Trump and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday. “I’m confident that he doesn’t want a shutdown. I hope the Democrats don’t either. Border security, rather than a physical wall, is probably an acceptable outcome here.”

But Trump is also aware that fully backing down at this point could embolden Democrats who are also clamoring for a commitment to permanently fund Obamacare’s insurance subsidies, according to one person involved in spending bill negotiations. Democrats are likely to receive only a temporary patch to keep those funds flowing to low-income Americans, which will cost about $7 billion this year. Trump’s administration has threatened to cut off those funds as a condition for getting his wall funding.

However, a White House official said acceptance is setting in that, at least for now, Trump will not get money for his central campaign promise to build a new massive barrier on the southern border.

Congress “will ramp up border security money with additional fencing and security measures short of the great wall,” said the official. “Then push for wall money in the fall.”

Democrats are less sure what Trump’s position is on the wall and Obamacare subsidies given his unpredictable nature. But Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the No. 4 Senate Democrat, said it’s clear “there are not the votes in the House or Senate” for the border wall — which means a spending bill with wall funding would invite a government shutdown.

“He understands that he could jeopardize the budget process. We’ve really warned him weeks and weeks ago not to try and fight the wall battle,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). And cutting off Obamacare subsidies now would mean “the net result of this is going to be to cut off health insurance of 6 million people.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) qualified his remarks Tuesday morning with a level of uncertainty, saying the president “seems” to have backed down on his insistence on the border wall funding.

“If the threat of the wall is removed, as I hope is the case, our negotiations can continue and we can hopefully resolve all of the outstanding issues by Friday,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

The prospect of getting Obamacare funding in the legislation has diminished now that lawmakers are unlikely to provide border wall money as a trade. But the Trump administration can continue to supply the subsidies without congressional action, which most Democrats would ultimately accept.

Appropriators are still negotiating "many" other issues, a Democratic aide said this morning.

"There are still many open items that are unresolved, which span the gamut of the 11 unfinished bills," House Democratic appropriations spokesman Matt Dennis said.

Indeed, even with the border wall sticking point seemingly off the table, passage of a full-year spending package is not necessarily attainable by the Friday deadline, potentially requiring a short-term continuing resolution to buy more time for negotiations. Congressional leaders are still hoping for enactment of an omnibus, with updated funding, rather than a long-term stopgap that drags out current levels through the end of September.

If clinched, the deal is likely to also include a multibillion-dollar increase in defense spending and perhaps a smaller amount of new domestic spending, Durbin said. The bill is also likely to include money to help Puerto Rico with a Medicaid shortfall, aides said.

Jennifer Hing, Republican spokeswoman for the House Appropriations Committee, said Tuesday morning that "we are still moving forward and making progress on the omnibus negotiations."