Conservatives introduce stopgap bill to provide more time to review border deal

Conservative lawmakers are pushing a one-week funding bill to give themselves more time to review details of a bipartisan deal to avert another possible government shutdown and fully fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus introduced the stopgap measure Wednesday to keep the government funded past the Friday night deadline. The move comes as appropriators are expected to release legislative text for the bipartisan border deal later Wednesday.

Conservatives have blasted the bipartisan deal — which includes $1.375 billion to build 55 miles of barrier along the southern border — for falling significantly below the $5.7 billion requested by the White House for border wall funding.{mosads}

“Like many of my colleagues, I am frustrated that this current proposal ignores input from experts on our southern border,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said in a statement. “I introduced this short-term continuing resolution – a spending bill – to provide time to negotiate more effective border security without the threat of another government shutdown. Border security is national security, and Congress must protect all Americans.”

Critics of the deal have also argued lawmakers should be provided a sufficient amount of time to read the legislation, which is slated to come to the floor Thursday evening.

The House waived a requirement preventing them from voting on any appropriations the same day. 

“The conference report is projected to be thousands of pages long and was negotiated behind closed doors. We believe that Members should be given enough time to read it before voting on it, so they can decide whether or not a better deal can be negotiated,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said in a statement. 

“Congress should pass a continuing resolution to give Members enough time to make these considerations on behalf of the American families and communities they represent.”

Trump is expected to sign the bipartisan deal, despite it providing far less in funding for a border barrier. He sought to allay concerns Wednesday from some conservatives who argue that the deal doesn’t fulfill his campaign promise to build a wall.

“I appreciate all the work the Republicans have done because they’re really going against a radical left. It’s a radical left. And they’re going against it very hard,” he said.

Trump said the measure includes nearly $23 billion for the border, though that figure includes money for all security measures, such as technology and personnel, in addition to the border barrier.

The president also repeated his assertion that his wall is already being built. The vast majority of construction happening now at the U.S.-Mexico border is to repair or replace existing barriers.

– Jordan Fabian contributed