Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has introduced a short-term spending bill to finance the US government and avoid a shutdown at the end of the week
Mr McConnell, the leading Republican in the Senate, said that the funding bill known as a continuing resolution “will ensure continuous funding for the federal government” until 8 February.
The short-term bill needs to be approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives before it can proceed to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law.
Mr McConnell’s bill comes as Congress races against time before funding for the government runs out on Friday at midnight, amid a contentious push by Mr Trump to make $5bn worth in funding for his controversial border wall a requirement for any spending agreement.
But, while Mr Trump had indicated that he would take responsibility for a shutdown in order to make a point about the wall, the White House has since stepped back from that threat.
“We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion”, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Tuesday.
On the Senate floor, Mr McConnell lashed out at Democrats, who will reclaim their House majority in January, for failing to give Mr Trump any of the $5bn he has asked for.
“This seems to be the reality of our political moment,” Mr McConnell said. “It seems like political spite for the president may be winning out over sensible policy.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated on Wednesday that Democrats would support Mr McConnell’s short-term bill, noting that Mr Trump had backed down from his threats over the border wall.
“Yesterday we made some progress,“ Mr Schumer said during his own floor speech. ”Thankfully, President Trump appears to have backed down from his position for billions in direct appropriations for a border wall”.
The last government shutdown occurred in February, less than a month after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach a consensus on funding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme that gives temporary legal status to some undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
