Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 ranking GOP, tells Hill.TV the bipartisan, bicameral conference committee on border security is “making good headway” in its efforts to strike a deal to avoid another government shutdown by February 15.
In order to make that deadline, only nine days away, Thune concedes that the 17-member conference committee is “going to have to wrap something up by the end of this week,” in order to allow both chambers time to debate and vote on a deal before funding runs out.
“They’ve been exchanging proposals and trading ideas back and forth and hopefully they’ll get to a place where will have a consensus,” Thune said in an interview with Hill.TV Wednesday morning.
Democratic Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.) – one of the committee members negotiating a deal – said he’s “still optimistic – very optimistic” that the members can reach a deal before funding runs out.
“It’s a matter of will and I think that there’s reasonable people in that conference committee – look, it could all get upended by leadership or whatever but the bottom line is people on that conference committee are good people and I think we can come up with a deal,” Tester told Hill.TV on Wednesday shortly after leaving a closed-door meeting between Customs and Border Protection officials in the Capitol basement.
Should the conferees fail to reach a deal by the deadline, President Trump may declare a national emergency on the southern border in order to build a controversial border wall.
While House and Senate Democratic and Republican conferees sound optimistic that they can reach a deal to prevent a government shutdown, but lawmakers acknowledge that Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will make the final decision.
“The question will always be what does the president think of that agreement because every bill requires a presidential signature … but also the bill has to pass the House of Representatives and the Speaker will have a lot to say about that,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said.
— Molly K. Hooper
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