President Donald Trump will sign a bipartisan spending deal – but will declare a 'national emergency' in an effort to procure funds to build a border wall, the White House said Thursday.
The move drew both statements of relief from lawmakers who wanted to avoid another government shutdown – and a threat from Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the emergency declaration.
Pelosi called it an 'end-run around the will of the people,' she told reporters minutes after news of Trump's position broke.
'The president making an end run around Congress,' said Pelosi. 'The power of the purse, the power to declare war … and of course the responsibility to have oversight.' She said Democrats would 'review our options,' and did not commit to filing a lawsuit against the move.
But she also brandished the threat a future Democratic president could use the same tactic of Trump moves forward: 'If the president can declare an emergency on something he has created … an illusion that he wants to convey, just think of what a different president can present to the American people,' Pelosi said.
She said Congress maintains 'the power of the purse, the power to declare war … and of course the responsibility to have oversight.'
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told fellow senators Thursday that Trump was 'prepared to sign' the budget deal, and the White House soon confirmed it with stronger language.
Said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders in a statement: 'President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before he will also take other executive action - including a national emergency - to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border. The President is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country,' she added.
McConnell made the announcement on the Senate floor after signals of indecision from the White House were once again raising fears of a government shutdown after Friday.
McConnell spoke to Trump Thursday, and told his colleagues the president 'indicated he's prepared to sign' the deal, which was inked Wednesday night.
He also will invoke a national emergency, McConnell said – a move many Republicans senators oppose, and one that is certain to draw a court challenge from Democrats.
Declaring a national emergency will allow Trump to repurpose billions of dollars Congress approved last year for other projects at the Pentagon and other agencies. The White House and Democrats have indicated that they expect interest groups to sue, challenging the president's power to sidestep lawmakers' power of the purse.
President Donald Trump has expressed misgivings about a bipartisan deal, but is expected to sign a bill providing just one-quarter of what he demanded for a wall, with money earmarked for border fencing
With Washington on edge a day before another shutdown deadline with no clear signal from the White House, McConnell told colleagues: 'I've just had an opportunity to speak with President Trump, and he would, I would say to all my colleagues, has indicated that he's prepared to sign the bill.'
He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time. And I've indicated to him that I'm going to prepare -- I'm going to support the national emergency declaration. So for all of my colleagues, the President will sign the bill. We'll be voting on it shortly."
A top Democrat immediately blasted the move to declare an emergency for funds Congress would not approve.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland intruded on an NBC live broadcast to say 'declaring a national emergency when there is no national emergency is not good for a President to do, and frankly I don't think it's good for precedent for future Presidents.'
A leading Senate Republican opened Thursday's session with a prayer that President Trump would have the 'wisdom' to sign a bipartisan spending deal – after another day of mixed signals from the White House.
'Let's all pray that the president will have wisdom to sign the bill so the government doesn't shut down,' said Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, who has been a powerful defender of Trump's but who also is pushing to make sure Special Counsel Mueller's report gets shared with Congress.
Sen. Mitch McConnell updated colleagues on his conversation with Trump, saying he 'indicated' he is 'prepared to sign' the budget bill
Grassley's appeal to a higher authority came hours after a senior Trump advisor said only that Trump was 'taking a look' at the legislation, which a bipartisan panel of House and Senate lawmakers agreed to Wednesday night.
Vice President Mike Pence, traveling in Poland, said Trump is 'not happy' with the deal – which includes just a quarter of the amount he wanted for a border wall, with funds restricted to existing forms of fencing.
'I think he's been very clear that he's not happy with it. Seeing less than $ 1.4 billion dollars in border wall funding I know is a disappointment to the president, but he's considering the bill,' Pence said.
The president himself was circumspect, tweeting: 'Reviewing the funding bill with my team at the @WhiteHouse!'
Trump's earlier Twitter effort was even less revealing. It said simply 'funding bill', and was an apparent typo.
Other senior Republicans were taking a wait-and-see approach to avoid getting out ahead of the president. Prominent voices on the right came out Thursday to urge Trump not sign onto the deal.
'This bill must NOT be signed by @realDonaldTrump,' wrote conservative host Laura Ingraham. She added: 'This bill is tantamount to an illegal immigration “stimulus” — de facto amnesty to any “sponsor,” family member or “potential sponsor” of an unaccompanied minor. #ChainMigrationAmnesty,' and in another swipe, wrote: 'This 1,169 page monstrosity will green light more “family units” crossing illegally—without a doubt.'
'Let's all pray that the president will have wisdom to sign the bill so the government doesn't shut down,' said Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa
The president said only he was 'reviewing' the bill
TAKE ONE: Trump deleted his initial tweet
Congress is set to resolve its clattering brawl with President Donald Trump in uncommonly bipartisan fashion as lawmakers prepare to pass a border security compromise providing a mere sliver of the billions he's demanded for a wall with Mexico and averting a rekindled government shutdown this weekend.
The White House has yet to signal Trump is certain to sign the deal, after high-profile conservative commentators balked at the arrangement, which gives the president far less than the $5.7 billion he demanded for a border wall.
White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters Thursday Trump was still 'looking at' the compromise that finally reached written form late Wednesday.
'He's looking at it. I think it came in very late last night. He's taking a look at that, you'll hear more about it when he's ready,' Kudlow said.
Lawmakers released the text of the 1,159-page bill Wednesday night.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said he is 'sure' the deal will pass
'I think he's been very clear that he's not happy with it,' Vice President Mike Pence said of Trump
White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters Thursday Trump was still 'looking at' the compromise that finally reached written form late Wednesday
The deal restricts fencing to existing types already in use
Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama tweeted Wednesday that Trump 'was in good spirits,' and once again called the bill a 'down-payment' on the wall. Trump has indicated he will use other methods to procure wall funds.
The Senate is expected to vote first on it Thursday, followed by action in the House.
Following the 35-day shutdown, Trump allowed a bipartisan group of lawmakers from both parties to negotiate a compromise. Pulling away from it could once again tag Trump with producing a shutdown.
The agreement provides $1.4 billion for border fencing, but not the $5.7 Trump demanded for wall construction. Trump has been tweaking his rhetoric as the deal approached. His Tuesday rally at the Texas border city of El Paso had banners that said 'finish the wall,' and Trump says repeatedly that it is already being built.
Trump said Wednesday he is taking a 'very serious' look at a bipartisan compromise deal to give him just a quarter of the $5.7 billion he wants for a border wall – following reports sourced to his advisors that he is preparing to sign it.
Government funding legislation is once again hinging on President Trump's support for a border wall
'We haven't gotten it yet,' Trump said, in reference to the bipartisan compromise that has yet to be turned into final bill language. 'We'll take a very serious look at it,' Trump added during a meeting with the president of Colombia.
He said he would look for 'landmines' surreptitiously buried in the legislation negotiated by Republicans and Democrats from both chambers of Congress, but would not formally commit to signing it.
There was a last minute standoff over back-pay for federal contractors who lost millions during the shutdown that began in December.
Republican Sen. Roy Blunt said he was told the president would not back the effort.
Senate Appropriations chair Richard Shelby of Alabama says he told Trump the wall funding was a 'down payment'
A bipartisan compromise would provide $1.37 billion for new border fencing
'We'll be looking for landmines, because you could have that,' Trump said, indicating his advisors would be scrubbing legislation to fund the government in search of any surprises. Trump said he would take a 'very serious' look at bipartisan legislation to fund the government
'I've been told the president won't sign that,' Blunt said Wednesday, adding 'I guess federal contractors are different in his view than federal employees.' Negotiators left the proposal out of the final compromise.
With Trump's halfhearted signature widely expected but hardly guaranteed, congressional leaders planned votes Thursday on the sweeping package.
Passage first by the Republican-led Senate, then the Democratic-controlled House, was virtually certain, with sizable numbers of both parties' members set to vote 'yes.' Bargainers formally completed the accord moments before midnight Wednesday.
'I'm sure it's going to pass. I don't know of any drama,' said House Democrats' chief vote-counter, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.
President Donald Trump hasn't given his final signal that he will sign a bipartisan compromise with $1.37 billion for border fencing, after a lengthy shutdown where he was demanding $5.7 billion for wall construction, though he is expected to do so
Trump's assent would end a raucous legislative saga that commenced before Christmas and was ending, almost fittingly, on Valentine's Day. The low point was the historically long 35-day partial federal shutdown, which Trump sparked and was in full force when Democrats took control of the House, compelling him to share power for the first time.
Trump yielded Jan. 25 after public opinion turned against him and congressional Republicans. He'd won not a nickel of the $5.7 billion he'd demanded for his wall but had caused missed paychecks for legions of federal workers and federal contractors and lost services for countless others. It was a political fiasco for Trump and an early triumph for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The fight left both parties dead set against another shutdown. That sentiment weakened Trump's hand and fueled the bipartisan deal, a pact that contrasts with the parties' still-raging differences over health care, taxes and investigations of the president.
The product of nearly three weeks of talks, the agreement provides almost $1.4 billion for new barriers along the boundary. That's less than the $1.6 billion for border security in a bipartisan Senate bill that Trump spurned months ago, and enough for building just 55 miles of barricades, not the 200-plus miles he'd sought.
Notably, the word 'wall' - which fueled many a chant at Trump campaign events and rallies as president - does not appear once in the 1,768 pages of legislation and explanatory materials. 'Barriers' and 'fencing' are the nouns of choice.
The compromise would also gradually pressure Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to gradually detain fewer unauthorized immigrants. To the dismay of Democrats, it would still leave an agency many of them consider abusive holding thousands more immigrants than it did last year.
The measure contains money for improved surveillance equipment, more customs agents and humanitarian aid for detained immigrants. The overall bill also provides $330 billion to finance dozens of federal agencies for the rest of the year.
Trump has talked for weeks about augmenting the agreement by taking executive action to divert money from other programs for wall construction, without congressional sign-off. He might declare a national emergency, which has drawn opposition from both parties, or invoke other authorities to tap funds targeted for military construction, disaster relief and counterdrug efforts.
Those moves could prompt congressional resistance or lawsuits, but would help assuage supporters dismayed that the president is yielding.
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who leads the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, told reporters 'it would be political suicide' if Trump signs the agreement and did nothing else to find added money.
The measure was expected to be carried by pragmatists from both parties. Many of Congress' most liberal members were expected to oppose it, unwilling to yield an inch to Trump's anti-immigrant policies, while staunch conservatives preferred a bill that would go further.
'I made a promise to my community that I wouldn't fund ICE,' said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a freshman who's become a face of her party's left wing and a leading proponent of eliminating the agency.
Though Trump lost the highest-profile issue at stake, he all but declared victory Wednesday.
At the White House, he contended that a wall 'is being built as we speak.' Work on a small stretch of barriers is due to start this month in Texas' Rio Grande Valley under legislation Congress approved last year.
Swallowing the deal would mark a major concession by Trump, who has spent months calling the situation at the southern border a national security crisis.
In private conversations, Trump has called the congressional bargainers poor negotiators, said a person familiar with the conversations who wasn't authorized to speak publicly. Trump has also made clear that he wanted more money for the wall and has expressed concern the plan is being framed as a defeat for him in the media.
Trump has repeatedly vowed Mexico would pay for the wall, a suggestion that country has spurned. His descriptions of the wall's size have fluctuated, at times saying it would cover 1,000 of the 2,000-mile boundary. Previous administrations constructed over 650 miles of barriers.
Facing opposition from Trump, Democrats lost their bid to include language giving federal contractors back pay for wages lost during the last shutdown. Federal workers have been paid for time they were furloughed or worked without paychecks.
Also omitted was an extension of the Violence Against Women Act. Democrats say this will give them a chance later this year to add protections for transgender people to that law.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/14/senate-republican-leader-says-trump-is-prepared-to-sign-spending-bill/
Main photo article President Donald Trump will sign a bipartisan spending deal – but will declare a ‘national emergency’ in an effort to procure funds to build a border wall, the White House said Thursday.
The move drew both statements of relief from lawmakers who wanted to avoid another government s...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/14/14/wire-9817022-1550155106-56_634x422.jpg
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