House and Senate negotiators negotiate deal to avoid arrest threat: NPR

House and Senate negotiators agreed on a plan to avoid a closure dispute several weeks before the mid-term elections in November.

Members of the House and Senate Budget Committees announced Thursday that they had reached an agreement on a major funding program for the defense, health and social services departments and a draft law on short-term expenses. Funding would continue until December 7. Both chambers are expected to vote on the measure before the September 30 deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown.

If it is approved, the agreement will postpone the debate on funds for President Trump's border wall until December, when a lame congress will be put in place. The House and Senate leaders worked closely with the negotiators in charge of the case, but the White House did not say whether Trump supported the bill.

"We look forward to reviewing the bill when it is released," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters.

The bipartisan agreement was announced a few hours before the House granted 377 votes against 20 to a separate spending law to three bills covering energy and water, the Legislative and Veterans Defense Programs. The package, known as a minibus, was adopted Wednesday by the Senate (92-5) and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement saying the president would sign it.

Some Conservatives in the House voted against this bill and are considering opposing any future spending agreement on concerns that Republicans have put too much in the negotiations. Republican Chair Mark Walker of the NRT was among those who threatened to vote against bills that do not cut spending and do not reflect the other priorities of the GOP.

"The House Republicans' priorities have been spread at all levels," Walker said a few hours before the vote. "In the next round of votes, the Conservatives are seeking conciliar legislation to take into account conservative policies such as the law, and unless this is done, many of our members will have a hard time supporting this funding."

The Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Rejected this criticism Thursday, saying that a compromise was needed to pass a bill with bipartisan support.

"When you trade with two parties in four corners, you will not get everything you want," Ryan said. "This is how negotiations and compromises and legislation work".

Expenses should go easily without conservative support thanks to the strong support of Democrats.

It is unclear when the House and Senate were able to vote, but management advisers said they expected to send invoices to the president by the September 30 deadline.

The agreement includes the often controversial bill on labor, health and human services and the funding of the Ministry of Defense. If passed, it will be the first time in more than a decade that Congress has reached agreement on the full year versions of these bills for a possible halt.

Over the past few weeks, Trump has alternated between saying he wants to avoid a money closure for a border wall and saying that a fight on this issue would be a good policy before mid-term.