GOP floats short-term CR with $5B for border wall
Under enormous pressure from President Trump, House GOP appropriators on Wednesday are considering a short-term, stopgap funding bill that would include the $5 billion in border wall funding Trump has demanded, GOP appropriations sources told The Hill.
The legislation, which could fund the remaining unfunded federal agencies until at least January, would also include billions of dollars in supplemental disaster aid for recent wildfires in the West and other natural disasters.
The sources cautioned that no final decision had been made by leadership.
{mosads}But if the continuing resolution, or CR, is released, it could be voted on by Thursday before the House adjourns for the weekend.
The development comes a day after an explosive meeting between Trump and Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) in the Oval Office. Pelosi asserted that the House could not pass any bill which included the $5 billion for border wall funding.
Trump rejected Pelosi’s comments, vowing that the House had the votes to do it.
“Well then do it. Go do it,” Pelosi retorted, egging the president on.
But Trump’s pledge that the House could pass such a bill has put Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other GOP congressional leaders in a tough spot as they try to spare the president from embarrassment.
The CR with wall funding would be dead on arrival in the Senate, because it could not get the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic-led filibuster.
And Republicans lawmakers and aides are not positive that there would be enough GOP votes to even pass it in the House.
Following the midterm elections, a number of lawmakers who either lost their races or won higher office have not been showing up to votes, complicating GOP whip operations on the funding bill and other end-of-year matters. Democrats have vowed to reject any bill with $5 billion in wall funding.
A McCarthy spokesman had no comment.
The government will face a partial shutdown on Dec. 21 unless Trump and Democrats can reach an agreement on a funding bill.