Congress is preparing another stopgap funding measure to avert a shutdown later this month after little progress on spending negotiations, particularly regarding President TrumpDonald John TrumpThe Hill Interview: DNC chair calls Latinos ‘imperative’ to winning in battleground states Democrats give Warren’s ‘Medicare for All’ plan the cold shoulder Senate Republicans struggle to coalesce behind an impeachment strategy MORE’s border wall.
The preparations for meeting a Nov. 21 deadline come amid increased tensions following Trump’s refusal on Sunday to rule out a shutdown. But key lawmakers said they are skeptical the president would trigger another lapse in funding after the record 35-day shutdown earlier this year yielded little in return for the White House.
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“I don’t think there’ll be a shutdown,” said Sen. James LankfordJames Paul LankfordOn The Money: Lawmakers dismiss fears of another shutdown | Income for poorest Americans fell faster than thought | Net employment holds steady in September | Groups press Senate on retirement bill Lawmakers dismiss fresh fears of another government shutdown Hillicon Valley: Twitter to refuse all political ads | Trump camp blasts ‘very dumb’ decision | Ocasio-Cortez hails move | Zuckerberg doubles down on Facebook’s ad policies | GOP senator blocks sweeping election reform bill MORE (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, in a local television interview Monday. “We have an initial deadline of the 21st of November, but if we don’t hit that then we’ll get an extension on top of that.”
Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiDemocrats give Warren’s ‘Medicare for All’ plan the cold shoulder Republican wins Mississippi governor race Overnight Health Care: Studies show teen e-cig users favor Juul products, mint flavors | Warren offers plan to reduce veteran suicide rate | WH official calls Pelosi drug plan ‘unworkable’ MORE (D-Calif.) also dismissed the likelihood of another shutdown, arguing Republicans would gain little from it.
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“I do think that they learned a lesson from the last shutdown since it didn’t do them very well,” Pelosi said in a Bloomberg News interview Friday.
In the partial shutdown that lasted from Dec. 22 to Jan. 25, Trump had sought $5 billion in border wall funding. Congress later agreed to provide only $1.375 billion for a limited set of barriers in the deal that reopened the government.
Still, Trump’s decision to declare a state of emergency in order to shift billions of dollars from existing accounts toward his wall has complicated the latest round of spending negotiations, as Democrats seek to block him from taking similar actions this time around.
Sen. Shelley Moore CapitoShelley Wellons Moore CapitoSenate Republicans struggle to coalesce behind an impeachment strategy Paul’s demand to out whistleblower rankles GOP colleagues White House warns against including wall restrictions in stopgap bill MORE (R-W.Va.), whose Appropriations subcommittee oversees funding that would affect the wall, said there has been little progress in identifying a way to satisfy both sides on the issue.
“The president is standing firm on a $5 billion number at this point,” she said last week.
Congress passed an 8-week stopgap measure in late September to avoid a shutdown on Oct. 1, the first day of the new fiscal year.
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Trump sparked new worries on Sunday when he told reporters he “wouldn’t commit to anything” when asked if he would ensure a government shutdown is avoided later this month.
“It depends on what the negotiation is,” he said.
Those remarks came less than a week after Senate Minority Leader Charles SchumerCharles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerRepublican wins Mississippi governor race Senate reviews Interior, FERC nominees criticized on ethics Democrats unifying against Joe Kennedy Senate bid MORE (D-N.Y.) raised the specter of Trump initiating a shutdown to distract from the impeachment inquiry.
”I hope and pray he won’t want to cause another government shutdown because it might be a diversion away from impeachment,” Schumer said. “It’s very worrisome to me.”
Rep. Nita LoweyNita Sue LoweyWhite House warns against including wall restrictions in stopgap bill Lawmakers dismiss fresh fears of another government shutdown Overnight Defense: Dems block defense spending bill over Trump wall | Impeachment latest – Both sides seize on testimony of White House Russia expert | Bolton won’t testify voluntarily MORE (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Richard ShelbyRichard Craig ShelbyWhite House warns against including wall restrictions in stopgap bill Lawmakers dismiss fresh fears of another government shutdown On The Money: Senate passes first spending package as shutdown looms | Treasury moves to roll back Obama rules on offshore tax deals | Trade deal talks manage to weather Trump impeachment storm MORE (R-Ala.) have both indicated that they expect a new stopgap measure to extend into February or March, though they have yet to finalize an agreement.
Another factor is the House’s advancing impeachment inquiry against Trump, which could lead to a Senate trial in the coming months. Shelby has said impeachment and a subsequent trial would likely distract from the business of passing spending bills and necessitate a longer timeline for a stopgap this month.
But on Thursday, he floated the possibility of a shorter time frame, before the end of December, for passing a continuing resolution.
“I would like that because we could finish our business,” he said.
One thing lawmakers appear united against is the possibility of a continuing resolution that would keep current funding levels in place through Sept. 30, an option the White House had floated earlier in the year.
“Our highest priority should be keeping the government functioning and the Defense Department fully funded,” Rep. Kay GrangerNorvell (Kay) Kay GrangerLawmakers dismiss fresh fears of another government shutdown Overnight Defense: Trump weighs leaving some troops in Syria to ‘secure the oil’ | US has pulled 2,000 troops from Afghanistan | Pelosi leads delegation to Afghanistan, Jordan Congress hunts for offramp from looming shutdown fight MORE (Texas), the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, said Monday.
“We cannot afford to short-change our troops or create unnecessary uncertainty for the Department of Defense,” she added in a joint statement decrying the possibility of a yearlong extension issued alongside Rep. Mac ThornberryWilliam (Mac) McClellan ThornberryAmerica’s avengers deserve an advocate Lawmakers dismiss fresh fears of another government shutdown Lobbying World MORE (Texas), the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Steve WomackStephen (Steve) Allen WomackLawmakers dismiss fresh fears of another government shutdown Lawmakers pay tribute to late Justice Stevens Rubio asks White House to delay B Pentagon contract over Amazon concerns MORE (Ark.), the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee.
A yearlong continuing resolution would prevent an agreed-upon, multibillion-dollar increase in both defense and domestic funding, and prevent government agencies from embarking on a bevvy of new programs.
When it comes to a potential shutdown, however, Trump is the wild card.
The last shutdown began when he did a last-minute about-face on a spending deal set for a vote in what was then the GOP-controlled House.
Sen. John CornynJohn CornynSenate Republicans struggle to coalesce behind an impeachment strategy Overnight Health Care: Studies show teen e-cig users favor Juul products, mint flavors | Warren offers plan to reduce veteran suicide rate | WH official calls Pelosi drug plan ‘unworkable’ Lawmakers dismiss fresh fears of another government shutdown MORE (R-Texas) on Monday acknowledged that things this time around could shift toward a shutdown given the importance of the wall to Trump and the pending impeachment.
“I think it’s unlikely but, you know, in this political environment I guess anything can happen,” he said.
Democrats have pushed their GOP colleagues to negotiate on how the overall set of funds will be split up among the 12 annual spending bills, an issue that cannot be resolved until the wall issue is resolved.
“The critical next step is to complete negotiations on subcommittee allocations, allowing our subcommittee chairs to conference individual bills,” Lowey said last week. “To reach agreement on allocations, Senate Republicans must drop their insistence on funding a wasteful wall at the expense of critical domestic programs.”
Shelby and Lowey have resumed talks on the allocations, and those talks have escalated to the leadership level.
Pelosi said she was engaged in talks with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellSenate Republicans struggle to coalesce behind an impeachment strategy Former McConnell aide wins Kentucky attorney general’s race Paul’s demand to out whistleblower rankles GOP colleagues MORE (R-Ky.) over the issues.
“Let’s see what we can get accomplished,” she said on Friday.
Jordain Carney contributed.