WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump moved quickly this week to negotiate with Democrats to try to avoid a lengthy government shutdown over Homeland Security Department funding, a sharp departure from last year’s record shutdown, when he refused to budge for weeks.
Some Republicans are frustrated with the deal, raising the possibility of a protracted shutdown fight when the House returns Monday to vote on the funding package. But Trump’s influence on the GOP remains considerable, and he has made his position clear at a time of growing political tension.
“The only thing that can slow our country down is another long and damaging government shutdown,” Trump wrote on social media late Thursday.
The urgency marked a clear shift from Trump’s posture during the 43-day shutdown late last year, when he publicly antagonized Democratic leaders and his team mocked them on social media. This time, with anger mounting over shootings in Minneapolis and the GOP’s midterm tax cut messaging mired in controversy, Trump moved quickly to strike a deal with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
“Trump and the Republicans know that this is an issue where they are on the wrong side of the American people and it’s really important,” Schumer told reporters Friday after the Senate’s passage of the government funding deal.
The crisis caused by the Minneapolis murder
Senators are back at work this week dealing with the aftermath of the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal immigration officials, as well as the slaying of Renee Good in the city weeks earlier.
Republicans were far from unified in their response. A few called for the firing of top administration officials such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy. Most GOP senators have tried to strike a balance, calling for a thorough investigation into Pretti’s killing while supporting the hard-line immigration approach that is central to Trump’s presidency.
But many agreed that the shootings threatened public support for Trump’s immigration agenda.
“I have never seen a political party take its best issue and turn it into its worst issue in the time frame that has happened in the last few weeks,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “Some things have to change.”
Democrats quickly coalesced around their main demands.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said there was “unanimity” around the core principles of enforcing a code of conduct for immigration officials and agents, ending “roving patrols” for immigration enforcement actions and coordinating with local law enforcement on immigration arrests.
It helped that Trump himself was looking for ways to slow down in Minneapolis.
“The world has seen the videos of those horrific abuses by DHS and rogue operations targeting innocent people, and there is revulsion about that,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
“The White House is asking for a ladder off the ledge,” he added.
To avoid the painful policy of closure
Republicans are also trying to promote their achievements in office as they prepare for the November elections and the difficult task of maintaining control of both houses of Congress.
But the prospect of a prolonged shutdown has diverted attention away from their $4.5 trillion tax and spending cut law, the centerpiece of their agenda. Republicans had hoped that the start of this year’s tax season on Monday would provide a political boost as voters begin to see bigger tax refunds.
Republicans are also aware of the political damage since last year’s shutdown, when they took a slightly larger share of the blame from Americans than from Democrats, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
“The shutdown was a big, negative factor for Republicans,” Trump told Republican senators at the White House in November.
On a practical level, this funding freeze threatened to destroy months of bipartisan work, including long hours during the holiday break, to craft the 12 spending bills that fund the government and many priorities back home.
“We saw what happened in the last government shutdown in terms of how real, hard-working Americans were hurt,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I don’t want that to happen again.”
A two-week funding battle begins
The deal reached this week, if passed by the House, would avoid a prolonged shutdown and fund nearly every federal department through the end of the budget year in September. But it doesn’t solve one of the most difficult issues for Congress and the White House: DHS funding.
Instead of a full-year deal, funding for the department was extended for just two weeks, giving lawmakers little time to bridge deep divisions over immigration enforcement.
Democrats are pushing for changes they say are needed to prevent future abuses, including requiring immigration agents to wear body cameras, carry clear identification, end patrols in cities and coordinate more closely with local law enforcement when making arrests. Many Democrats also want stricter rules on tenure and accountability mechanisms for officials in the field.
Those demands met strong resistance from Republicans. Some are against negotiating with Democrats at all.
“Republicans control the White House, the Senate and the House. Why are we giving an inch to the Democrats?” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., wrote on social media.
Republican senators said they would take the fight to Democrats by introducing their own bills, including restrictions on “sanctuary cities,” to show their support for Trump’s policies. That term is generally applied to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“Let the issue drift away. We’re not running. We’re trying to avoid losing more than we win,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., who held up the spending bills until Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RSD, agreed to give him a vote on his sanctuary cities bill at a later date.
Thune acknowledged the difficulty of the next two weeks, saying there are “some pretty significant views and feelings.”
“We’re going to stay hopeful,” Thune told reporters about DHS’s upcoming fight. “But there are some pretty significant differences of opinion.”
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Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.