Congressional negotiators have reached an “agreement in principle” on border security funding in a bid to avert the looming second government shutdown just six weeks after the last one ended.
No details of the agreement were disclosed as congressional staffers rushed to convert the agreement into written form.
According to CNN, Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL), when asked whether it included barrier funding and a resolution to the detention bed issue, said: “We got an agreement on all of it.”
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) had earlier said that the negotiators’ goal was to achieve a deal this evening and spend Tuesday drafting a final agreement.
“I think we both agree if we can wrap this up tonight, do it tonight, our goal will be to do it tomorrow,” Leahy had said.
While the deal between the negotiators may be completed, it remains to be seen whether the details of the agreement will be acceptable enough to President Trump for him to agree to sign it and prevent another shutdown.
The deal may also face pushback from progressive Democrats in the House of Representatives who have vowed to block any funding whatsoever for the wall that the president promised would be paid for by Mexico and that they believe is a complete waste of taxpayer dollars that would be better used on more pressing social priorities.
With the news of the agreement so recently revealed and lacking the detail that could allow people to evaluate the terms, expect this developing story to dominate the news tomorrow as the reactions to the specifics of the compromise reached spread once they are disclosed.
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Original reporting by Ted Barrett, Phil Mattingly, Manu Raju, Kristin Wilson, and Ashley Killough at CNN.
