is okay mexico is on top of it

May 01, 2017 19:22

Congress strikes budget deal that shortchanges Trump

Congressional leaders have reached a deal on a $1 trillion spending bill that would fund the government at updated levels through the end of September but deny President Donald Trump wins on his border wall plans and his crackdown on "sanctuary cities."

The bipartisan deal struck Sunday night would increase defense spending and provide $1.5 billion in new border security spending aimed at repairing existing infrastructure and increasing technology, though it would not allocate any new funding for a border wall with Mexico despite the president's insistence. Under the plan, Congress would provide $15 billion in supplemental funding requested by Trump to fight terrorism, with $2.5 billion of that contingent on the White House presenting Congress with a plan to fight the Islamic State.


The bill clocks in at more than 1,600 pages, and Congress must pass it before Friday evening to avert a shutdown. It is likely to pass easily because it contains key boosts to defense and domestic programs viewed by leaders in both parties as vastly preferable to another stopgap measure. House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) said it is "the result of over a year’s worth of careful and dedicated efforts to closely examine federal programs to make the best possible use of every tax dollar."

“This agreement is a good agreement for the American people and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table. The bill ensures taxpayer dollars aren’t used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison-pill riders, and increases investments in programs that the middle-class relies on, like medical research, education and infrastructure," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

The legislation would permanently extend expiring health insurance benefits to coal miners, a major priority of senators from Appalachia. It would provide $2 billion in new spending for the National Institutes of Health, including a down payment on former President Barack Obama's cancer "moonshot."

Under the plan, Congress would also deliver $8.1 billion in emergency and disaster relief funding, including money to aid California, West Virginia, Louisiana and North Carolina and fight wildfires, as well as new investments in fighting the opioid epidemic.

Congress was forced to pass a stopgap, weeklong funding measure last Friday to avoid a government shutdown as the two parties sparred over the GOP's attempts to repeal Obamacare, as well as Puerto Rico's beleaguered Medicaid system.

The legislation delivers wins to both parties, though Republicans and Democrats also had to compromise on some key issues. The Trump administration had demanded that the bill include a down payment on a physical barrier along the Southern border, as well as a rider blocking so-called sanctuary cities from getting new grant funding. The White House received neither but did garner significant new investments in border security.

Trump insists he will still get his wall built imminently and will seek money for the structure in the new spending bill this fall. Democrats say it will be no easier for him to obtain his funding then.

At Monday's White House briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer said the president "got a lot out of this bill," citing the increase in defense spending and money for border security, and tried to portray it as a win for the administration despite the lack of funding for Trump's wall. Trump will also look to advance his agenda in the fall and through the 2018 budget, he said.

"Because the last Congress didn't do this under President Obama, we have an opportunity to get some of the president's priorities infused for the last five months of 2017," Spicer said. "That's a big step forward. And something that he will continue to fight for in 2018 when the fiscal year starts, the end of September, we will have an opportunity to really infuse the president's priorities. But I think there's a lot there."

Democrats were seeking a permanent commitment to funding Obamacare's subsidies for low-income Americans' insurance as well as more money to fill Puerto Rico's Medicaid coffers. Instead, the Trump administration is only indefinitely funding the Obamacare subsidies, and Puerto Rico's Medicaid solution mostly relies on redistributing existing accounts.

Democrats also fended off riders they view as anti-environmental and anti-abortion.

politico is totes taking kickstarter money for that wall now pls and tyvm

congress, budget

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