Government Shutdown Trump pans spending deal as Congress moves toward vote The House may vote as early as Wednesday night, while GOP leaders urge Trump to back the agreement.

President Donald Trump is keeping Washington in suspense on whether he will sign off on a bipartisan spending deal, caught between GOP leaders who back the agreement and conservative allies that drove him to accept a shutdown in December.

Even as House Democratic leaders prepare to move the massive legislative package to the floor as early as Wednesday night, Trump was still sending mixed messages on his intentions.


Trump first told reporters on Tuesday that he doesn't love the deal reached by congressional negotiators the previous evening. But Trump said he doesn't want another shutdown either. And the president declined to rule out declaring a national emergency to fund a border wall.

“I'm not happy about it. It's not doing the trick,” Trump said of the bipartisan funding agreement, adding, "I don't think you are going to see a shutdown. I wouldn't want to go to it. If you did have it, it's the Democrats' fault.”

Trump spoke to Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) late on Tuesday and offered no commitment to support the bill. Shelby said Trump would review the details, and the text is expected to be released Wednesday.

“I thought the tone of the president sounded reasonable, he’s going to look at the details and he’s going to go from there,“ Shelby said. Asked if he thought the president would ultimately support it, he said: “I'm hoping he is. I'm thinking he will.“

After talking to Shelby, Trump appeared to soften his stance without weighing in on the proposal. “Was just presented the concept and parameters of the Border Security Deal by hard working Senator Richard Shelby. Looking over all aspects knowing that this will be hooked up with lots of money from other sources,“ he tweeted, adding that the wall “is being built as we speak!“

House Democratic and GOP leaders are growing more confident about the bill's passage, despite some criticism from their left and right flanks. Over on the Senate side, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are pressing for quick action as well. Government funding is set to run out Friday evening.

“When it is finished and it is filed, then we can move expeditiously. It could be done by" Wednesday night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters after a Democratic leadership meeting.

"It's possible that we could pass it tomorrow," added House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). The House was out of session Tuesday for the funeral of the late Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), which complicated plans.

House GOP appropriators saw details of the package for the first time late Tuesday afternoon, though final text of the deal is unlikely before Wednesday — a delay that had some lawmakers griping about the lack of transparency.

Texas Rep. Kay Granger, top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee and one of the negotiators on the agreement, said the reaction was “mostly affirmative” in the room and that Republicans should vote for the bill because “we had more wins than we had losses.” Asked whether Trump would sign the bill, Granger responded, “I hope so.”

“There are consequences if it doesn’t happen. The possibility of a shutdown, the possibility of a continuing resolution [to keep the government open.] So we’re hopeful that he’ll sign this,” Granger added.

Trump's ambivalence seemed to freeze many in the GOP, with lawmakers unwilling to endorse the deal until hearing what the president's position is. That included Senate GOP conservative James Lankford of Oklahoma and moderate Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who said they also needed to see more details on the measure before deciding how they will vote.

Even as Senate Republicans and Trump seemed unified on avoiding a shutdown, the question of how to handle a spending agreement that provided little more than Democrats were offering two months ago weighed on many in the GOP.

“It’s a compromise, which means everybody is unhappy,” GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) planned to speak with Trump on Thursday. Graham said the deal could be good if Trump has flexibility to spend more on detention beds and if he’s able to build the border wall he's been touting for weeks.

The top Republican leaders in Congress also mounted a quick campaign to convince Trump that he’d come out on top over Democratic resistance to Immigration and CustomsEnforcement and border barrier funding.

McConnell weighed in warmly on the bipartisan, bicameral pact on Tuesday morning and said he hopes the “Senate can act” on the bill as soon as possible. McConnell touted the legislation as a rejection of the “extreme positions” of liberals and said the agreement is good news.

"I have recommended that if it becomes what we think it is, I do recommend he sign it," McConnell said on Tuesday afternoon. "He's got a pretty good deal here."

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on CNBC that Democrats caved. McCarthy claimed Democrats had reversed themselves on their opposition to border barrier money and detention beds for interior enforcement by ICE.

The deal includes roughly the same amount of funding for fencing that Democrats have been offering since December.

Senior GOP members of Congress are still worried that Trump could reject the deal, just as he spurned spending legislation in December that sparked a 35-day partial government shutdown.

“I never try and predict," Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) on Tuesday morning said. But he argued in favor of the compromise: "I’m inclined to be for something that gets us out of the current logjam we are in and builds the wall and keeps the government open. From what I can tell, it seems like the Dems gave a lot of ground."

The campaign by top Republicans to sway Trump came as critics on the right began slamming the deal, which provides $1.375 billion in funding for a border barrier — far less than the $5.7 billion Trump had demanded.

Fox News host Sean Hannity called it a “garbage compromise” and conservative commentator Ann Coulter circulated criticisms of the plan on Twitter.

A senior House GOP aide said it’s “too early to predict” how many Republicans will vote against the bill, but suggested the number was low.

“My guess is Trump will say something milquetoast about it, we pass it, Trump signs it but then bashes it, and everyone regrets they ever voted for it,” the aide said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Potential GOP support could come from appropriators, moderates and the dozen or so Republicans who voted with Democrats to reopen the government during the shutdown. That could be anywhere from 20 to 40 potential House GOP votes for the measure.

But a number of Republicans are privately griping that it's up to Pelosi to round up the votes to pass the proposal since Democrats are in the majority.

Democrats could also face defections on the left. Progressives were pushing to put a hard cap on detention beds for ICE enforcement within the United States and did not receive it, and some may be unable to support any new barrier funding.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said he and other liberals would decide on the deal after seeing the legislative text.

For Pocan, the biggest issue is not the wrangling over detention beds but whether the bill includes specific language that blocks the administration from building an actual wall along the border, akin to the prototypes Trump unveiled in 2017.

"The wall was the biggest line in the sand. And that language is going to be key," Pocan said.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the other leader of the CPC, said she had “tremendous concern” about what she was hearing about the deal so far.

Jayapal said she and Pocan sent a letter to conferees last week outlining what they needed in a deal but felt that several of those concerns weren’t addressed in the agreement.

“I always want to make sure I’m giving my colleagues the best consideration of what they’ve negotiated,” Jayapal said in an interview. “But in the end if I think it’s a deal that is really going to be terrible…then I’m going to have to vote no.”

Marianne LeVine, Sarah Ferris, Zachary Warmbrodt and Rebecca Morin contributed to this report.