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| Trump Border Demand Threatens to Upend Shutdown Deal | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| WASHINGTON — A deal to avert a Christmastime government shutdown teetered on Thursday as President Trump fumed that he was not getting border-wall funding and conservatives in the House revolted against a bill to keep funds flowing past midnight Friday. | |
| House Republicans emerged from a conference meeting Thursday morning disgruntled and without a guarantee from the leadership that the president would support a bill that would extend the government funding for nine federal departments into early February. The White House called an emergency meeting with House Republican leaders and conservatives for noon. | |
| The spending bill passed the Senate in a voice vote late Wednesday night but does not include funds demanded by Mr. Trump for a wall at the southern border. “At this moment, the president does not want to go further without border security, which includes steel slats or a wall,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said in a statement on Thursday. “The president is continuing to weigh his options.” | The spending bill passed the Senate in a voice vote late Wednesday night but does not include funds demanded by Mr. Trump for a wall at the southern border. “At this moment, the president does not want to go further without border security, which includes steel slats or a wall,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said in a statement on Thursday. “The president is continuing to weigh his options.” |
| Though Mr. Trump has not publicly expressed an intent to sign or veto the bill, he already faced a fierce repudiation from the hard-line House Freedom Caucus and his supporters over a perceived retreat from his signature campaign promise. | Though Mr. Trump has not publicly expressed an intent to sign or veto the bill, he already faced a fierce repudiation from the hard-line House Freedom Caucus and his supporters over a perceived retreat from his signature campaign promise. |
| Mr. Trump, following a phone call with Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, indicated on Twitter that he was frustrated with the limitations of the stopgap spending bill, which both Democratic leaders endorsed. He indicated that Republican leaders had promised the next spending bill to reach his desk would fund one of the central promises of his presidential campaign. | |
| “When I begrudgingly signed the Omnibus Bill, I was promised the Wall and Border Security by leadership,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to the $1.3 trillion spending bill he angrily signed in March. “Would be done by end of year (NOW). It didn’t happen!” | “When I begrudgingly signed the Omnibus Bill, I was promised the Wall and Border Security by leadership,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to the $1.3 trillion spending bill he angrily signed in March. “Would be done by end of year (NOW). It didn’t happen!” |
| Mr. Ryan abruptly canceled a news conference after the phone call. Asked if Mr. Trump would veto the stopgap spending bill passed by the Senate, Representative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana and the majority whip, demurred. | |
| “I know the president is passionate about getting $5 billion for the wall, and we support what he’s been fighting for,” Mr. Scalise told reporters. “We have a strong desire to give the president the money he needs and the tools he needs to secure our border.” | |
| It was a final deluge of congressional chaos, with the House Republican leadership struggling to counter the mercurial mood from the White House and concerns that they were squandering the last moments of a Republican majority — a defeated caucus whose members have neglected to show up for votes this week. | |
| “It makes it a lot more difficult,” Representative Carlos Curbelo, Republican of Florida, who was defeated in his November reelection bid, said of the dozens of missing members. “There’s a fear if a majority of Republicans don’t support it, the president would be less likely to support it.” | |
| Mr. Ryan, a day after he offered a defense of his congressional legacy and lamented the “broken” state of American politics, was set to argue that the best solution was to keep the government fully funded and accept the political loss. | |
| But he was to be joined by Representatives Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio, both recurring instigators of friction and tumult for leadership, who are angling for a fight over wall funding and will return in January. | |
| “The time to fight is now,” said Representative Paul Gosar, Republican of Arizona, who joined the pair Wednesday night on the House floor in railing against the lack of border wall funding. “I mean, this is stupid.” ” | |
| And while some lawmakers voiced cautious optimism that with Democratic support, the vote would go ahead and reach the president’s desk without the border wall funding, the specter of a presidential veto lingered. Without conservative support, the House could not override the president. | |
| Punting the impasse over wall funding until after the State of the Union address expected next month could give Mr. Trump the opportunity to showcase his argument for a border wall to the American people, some lawmakers said. | Punting the impasse over wall funding until after the State of the Union address expected next month could give Mr. Trump the opportunity to showcase his argument for a border wall to the American people, some lawmakers said. |
| But it would put control of the fight in the hands of Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California and the likely successor to the speaker’s gavel. | But it would put control of the fight in the hands of Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California and the likely successor to the speaker’s gavel. |
| “I think the question people are asking is: When is it better to have the fight? And is it better to have the fight on our own terms or is it better to have the fight on Nancy Pelosi’s terms?” said Representative Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota, who will be in the Senate come January. | “I think the question people are asking is: When is it better to have the fight? And is it better to have the fight on our own terms or is it better to have the fight on Nancy Pelosi’s terms?” said Representative Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota, who will be in the Senate come January. |
| Some Southeastern lawmakers, sensing a final vehicle to carry unfinished legislative business, warned they would not support a bill that did not carry disaster relief for farmers devastated by storms earlier this year. | Some Southeastern lawmakers, sensing a final vehicle to carry unfinished legislative business, warned they would not support a bill that did not carry disaster relief for farmers devastated by storms earlier this year. |
| Some House Democrats also expressed frustration that a stopgap bill would stymie efforts to jump-start their own agenda when they take the majority in two weeks, according to a Democratic aide. | Some House Democrats also expressed frustration that a stopgap bill would stymie efforts to jump-start their own agenda when they take the majority in two weeks, according to a Democratic aide. |