Congress plans to avoid government shutdown

Congressional leaders from both sides finalized a plan to prevent the government's closure at the end of the month following President Trump's calls to fund a border wall and postpone the fight after the mid-November elections.

The bipartisan pact, announced Thursday by Credit Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), reflects Republican leaders' willingness to avoid a closing fight a few weeks before the mid-term elections – even though most important policies of Trump.

House GOP's management advisors believe that the White House is supportive of their approach, but no one can be sure what Trump will ultimately do. GOP leaders urged Trump to withdraw from rhetoric about the government 's closure, but he hesitated, suggesting that it might be a good policy to force a shutdown on October 1 to try to get the government back. money that he wants for his wall.

While Thursday's announcement reduces the chances of closure, the mid-term policies or the Freedom Caucus, a group of very conservative members allied with Trump, could still start a crisis.

"The president will have to sign the law or close the government," said representative Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) At a meeting of the House-Senate committee in charge of approving l & # 39; agreement.

Government funding ends on September 30. The Congress is striving to send Trump a number of mandatory spending bills for 2019, including crucial measures for financing the Pentagon and the Department of Health and Social Services. The House was planning to pass a three-piece program that would fund Veterans Affairs and other organizations later on Thursday and send it to Trump.

But the rest of the bills will be dealt with after the elections. This includes expenses for the homeland security department that pays for the wall.

Frelinghuysen has announced that these agencies will be autopilot financed with a short-term bill of expenditure running until December 7th. The so-called continuous resolution will be joined to a bill that provides for significant funding increases for the Pentagon in 2019 – a major priority for Republicans and Trump – and big increases for the Department of Health and Social Services, a democratic goal.

This configuration is intended to facilitate passage through the House and Senate – and to allow Trump to demand a victory over military funding.

Republicans have insisted that they still support the funding of the border wall, as Trump wishes, but it does not make sense to fight on this issue before the mid-term elections. The House appropriations committee has allocated $ 5 billion for the 2019 wall – the figure Trump wants – but the Senate appropriations bill is only $ 1.6 billion. Democrats in the Senate have not shown interest in the high number of MPs, and Democrats have the ability to block bills that require bipartite votes in the Senate.

"It does not make much sense to close the government and we will fight against this fight when it happens, but it's not the moment to have it," said Rep Tom Cole. (R-Okla.), A senior member of the House Credit Committee. "I do not presume to speak on behalf of the president, but our leaders tell us that they have been in constant communication with the administration and that we are pursuing our plans, so I guess that is the case."

Frelinghuysen announced at the beginning of the conference committee meeting that "the term of the CR is up to December 7, 2018, which gives us time to finish our work on the remaining bills – as we have the intention to do it.

The agreement could also constitute a further blow for the deficit hawks, as it would continue the tradition of the Trump era of increasing spending levels in the hope of receiving bipartisan support. Trump had campaigned with a promise to cut spending, but it has steadily increased since last year.