Mitch McConnell: White House 'extremely flexible' on government funding bill, there won't be a shutdown
by Susan Ferrechio
| December 18, 2018 04:20 PM
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Trump administration is “extremely flexible†on legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown by a Dec. 21 deadline and pledged a deal would be signed into law by then.
“I am now in consultation with the White House on the way forward,†McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday after huddling with GOP senators. “I might say the administration is extremely flexible on this issue.â€
Republicans and Democrats left a Tuesday meeting without any agreement on legislation to fund the remaining 25 percent of the government that was left unfunded for fiscal year 2019.
Democrats rejected a deal offered by the GOP to pass the Senate’s bipartisan fiscal 2019 homeland security funding measure, which includes $1.6 billion for border security, plus an additional $1 billion in funding that could be used for more border security needs.
McConnell said he thought the offer “was reasonable†for both parties to end the fight over funding for a southern border wall, which is at the heart of the weekslong impasse.
But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the $1 billion addition a “slush fund for the president to use for his radical immigration agenda,†despite a pledge by Republicans that the money would be designated for border security but not a physical wall.
Republicans are now weighing other proposals, including taking up the fiscal 2019 homeland security funding bill that cleared committee earlier this year.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/mitch-mcconnell-white-house-extremely-flexible-on-government-funding-bill-there-wont-be-a-shutdown
