Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and other top Republican and Democratic negotiators have come to a tentative agreement to provide $1.375 billion for barriers along the southern border. The compromise is part of a potentially larger deal to prevent another government shutdown before the current stopgap funding bill runs out on Friday.
The agreement was reached Monday night after weeks of back and forth on the annual funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies. The major sticking point has been President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion for a border wall.
The deal must pass the House and the Senate, and the president, who has continued to call for a complete border wall to be built, will have decide whether to sign it.
In an interview Tuesday morning, Leahy said it is always a “possibility” that Trump will not support the plan, but said he remains optimistic that a government shutdown will be averted.
Leahy told VTDigger he expects the plan to go to the House Wednesday and then to the Senate on Thursday.
“Nobody got everything that they wanted. But I think what we ended up with is a victory for common sense and a victory for the American people,” Leahy said.
As the deal was reached between bipartisan negotiators, Trump was at a rally in El Paso, saying that he would build the wall regardless of what was decided. He stood on stage between banners that read “Finish the Wall.”
Leahy remains confident that Trump will agree to the proposal. In an earlier interview with VTDigger, the Vermont senator said he he doubted there would be another government shutdown.
“Republicans especially know it’s hurt them badly, especially as Trump says, ‘I’ll take credit for it’ and they’re all telling him quietly ‘you screwed up,’” Leahy said.
Senate Appropriations chair Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said Monday night the deal included agreements on wall funding and additional beds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention facilities in the U.S, according to the New York Times.
The deal agreed to reportedly includes $1.375 billion for border wall segments and a total of 40,520 detention beds.
Leahy and Shelby have been working on the appropriations bills for months and Leahy has repeatedly said the two continue to have a strong working relationship.
“I’m impressed by the Republicans and the Democrats. We get into the room, the polemics stop, the grandstanding stops, and they’re working together, Republican and Democrat,” Leahy said.
