FILE PHOTO: House Minority Whip Steve Scalise speaks at a news conference following leadership elections on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, Steve Scalise, said on Thursday that lawmakers in his chamber would move to add $5 billion for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall to a short-term funding bill, as they race to avert a partial government shutdown.

Scalise said the Republican-led House would attach the border wall money as an amendment to short-term funding legislation coming from the Senate. He said it would also add funds for disaster aid.

Amendments require a vote from the House, which could make timing tight as current funding ends at Friday midnight.

The chairman of the Rules Committee, Republican Pete Sessions, said the committee would meet later on Thursday to determine how to move forward on adding the $5 billion, and said he did not know if Trump would sign a measure into law that lacked the funding.

“We’re all putting that in the calculator,” Sessions told reporters off the House floor.

Legislation must first be approved by the committee before going to the full chamber for a vote.