Lawmakers reach agreement 'in principle' to avert shutdown
By Jordain Carney - 02/11/19 08:32 PM EST
Lawmakers said on Monday night that they had reached an agreement "in principle" to avoid a second partial government shutdown set to begin on Saturday.
“We’ve had a good evening. We’ve reached an agreement in principle between us on the Homeland Security and the other six bills,†Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) told reporters.
The breakthrough came after Sens. Shelby (R-Ala.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Kay Granger (R-Texas)—the top members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committee—met three times on Monday night in a last-ditch effort to get a deal.
Negotiators refused to discuss the particulars of the deal and Lowey said staff were still finalizing the details. Lowey said she hopes for legislation to be released on Wednesday.
“I think everyone will say good work,†Granger said.
If negotiators are able to hold an agreement together, it would mark a dramatic U-turn from earlier Monday when both sides were still divided on two key issues: funding for physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border and a snag on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention beds.
The group of core negotiators refused to discuss how they resolved the ICE fight, after Democrats proposed a cap on the number of ICE detention beds, arguing it would force the Trump administration to focus on “serious criminals,†and that numbers were in line with those from the Obama administration.
"We worked it out in principle. We think it's going to work," Shelby said.
Shelby said the agreement includes funding for physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, but declined to say how much the agreement is for or whether it's more than the $1.6 billion included in the Senate's initial Homeland Security bill.
There were signs that a break-through was imminent earlier Monday evening when Shelby and Leahy, standing side by side as they spoke to reporters, said they were closing in on a deal and could wrap up talks before Tuesday.
"We’re talking about reaching an agreement on all of it," Shelby told reporters.
Congress has until Saturday to get the seven remaining fiscal year 2019 appropriations bills to Trump's desk to fund roughly 25 percent of the federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security.
-Juliegrace Brufke contributed to this report which was updated at 8:53 p.m.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/429525-lawmakers-reach-agreement-in-principle-to-avert-shutdown