Shutdown deadline nears as talks sputter
Story Date: 2/12/2019

 

Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 2/11/19

House and Senate negotiators worked through the weekend aiming to reach a border security compromise in time for Congress to pass funding this week for the Agriculture Department, FDA and other agencies. But the talks appeared to collapse, with Republicans and Democrats hung up on issues like how many Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detention beds they should fund.

Odds of a deal: Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) estimated there's a 50-50 chance negotiators will come to an agreement.

— "We've got some problems with the Democrats dealing with ICE," Shelby said on Fox News Sunday. "I'm not confident we're going to get there. I'm hoping we will get there."

Negotiators had hoped to reach a deal by Sunday night, leaving plenty of time for Congress to process the legislation this week before the current stopgap expires on Feb. 15. House SpeakerNancy Pelosi has indicated she'll give members three days to review legislation before voting, which could draw out the timeline for passage if a deal is reached.

Shutdown 2.0 still possible: White House officials said the president is open to signing another continuing resolution, but acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney also reiterated there could be another shutdown if Trump doesn't get the border funding he's seeking.

"The government shutdown is technically still on the table," Mulvaney said on Fox News Sunday. "We do not want it to come to that, but that option is still open to the president and will remain so."

























   Copyright © 2007 North Carolina Agribusiness Council, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
   All use of this Website is subject to our
Terms of Use Agreement and our Privacy Policy.