WASHINGTON _ Congress on Thursday is expected to approve a bipartisan deal to fund a large chunk of the federal government in hopes of preventing another partial government shutdown.
The Senate will consider the bill first. The House is expected to vote on the bill Thursday evening, clearing it for the president's signature ahead of Friday's deadline.
Only broad details of the plan were available until late Wednesday evening, and members of both parties said they were withholding judgment until receiving a final version of the bill. President Trump, who said earlier in the week that he is not "thrilled" with the deal, has not said if he will sign it.
The more than 1,000-page bill provides $1.375 billion for barriers at the southern border, but not a wall. That's less than the $1.6 billion the administration originally asked for last summer or the $5.7 billion the president demanded in December. It also states that the Department of Homeland Security cannot build new barriers in certain parks or nature reserves and must consult with affected cities about the design before construction can begin.
The bill, which was negotiated in a bipartisan House and Senate conference, funds 200 border control agents hired since October, but funds no other new agents this year. The bill also allows for hiring new immigration judges, sets new standards for how immigrants should be cared for while they are detained, such as providing some medical care and setting limits on the temperature in facilities. It includes a 1.9 percent pay increase for federal employees retroactive to Jan. 1. Trump canceled the pay increase late last year, saying the country couldn't afford it.
Not included is an extension of the Violence Against Women Act, which provides funding and resources to emergency shelters for abused women and men and will expire at midnight Friday. Nor is there supplemental disaster aid for states like California and Florida that are recovering from major hurricane, flood and fire damage last year.
Democrats gave up their push to place a cap on the number of immigration arrests that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, could make in the interior of the country by limiting the number of beds available for them in detention facilities.
House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday she hopes colleagues support it.
"The choice would be, if they are not going to vote on it, we would get a (continuing resolution), and that wouldn't be good for most people," Lowey said. A continuing resolution would temporarily keep the government open at current spending levels while negotiations continue.
Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are urging their members to support the bill and avoid a replay of the 35-day government shutdown.
"If the text of the bill reflects the principles agreed to on Monday, it won't be a perfect deal _ but it will be a good deal," McConnell said on the Senate floor.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said he expects Republicans to back the bill in the Senate, and for most House Democrats, and some House Republicans, to work together to get it through the House even though some members aren't satisfied with the final agreement.
"In conference you are hardly ever as happy as you would like to be," Hoyer said. "There are give and takes, but the bottom line is it's a conference. An agreement has been reached."
Some liberal Democrats object that the final agreement provides funding for new barriers along the southern border, and are frustrated that it will not stop Trump from pulling money for his wall from other parts of government. Still, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairwoman, said it is doubtful the caucus will vote as a bloc against it.
"We're not trying to win votes against this," Jayapal said. "Nobody wants to see a shutdown, obviously. But we do have to continue to call out this, you know, malfeasance on the part of the administration."
House Republican leaders said Wednesday they would not commit to supporting the bill until they had read the final text. And some conservative Republicans are balking that the deal does not give Trump the full $5.7 billion he requested. House Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) believes the president can save face by pulling money from elsewhere in government to build the wall without congressional approval.
"If the president were to sign this bill based on the contours of what has been reported and suggested is in the bill and did nothing else, it would be political suicide," Meadows said. "If he signed the bill based on the way that we believe the bill to be, and and takes other methods to obtain funding for additional border security measures, then I think there's very little political liability from conservatives."
The conservative caucus, which helped talk Trump into shutting down the government in January, on Wednesday introduced a continuing resolution to fund the government for one week. It came about an hour after Meadows told reporters that the chances of the president vetoing the bill increase if signing a continuing resolution is an option.
It's highly unlikely that a Republican-sponsored continuing resolution will get considered in the Democratic-controlled House.
