The two-year nearly $400 billion budget deal reached Wednesday by the Senate does not include President Donald Trump's $25 billion request for a border wall, "but it also doesn't rule out" the financing, a top Republican Senate aide told Newsmax.
The wall funding "will be debated in the immigration debate" as Congress seeks a permanent fix to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which expires March 5, the aide said.
Instead, the budget agreement announced by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York "sets the amounts that can be spent," the aide told Newsmax.
The actual budget proposal will now be written by the Senate Appropriations Committee, according to the aide.
President Trump has demanded funding for the wall on the southern U.S. border with Mexico be included in any permanent fix for DACA, originally asking Congress last month for $18 billion for the barrier's first phase.
The additional funds would be used for increased Border Patrol agents and technology improvements and other measures.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders praised the deal, saying it would provide "certainty" for two years and would achieve a "much needed" increase in funding for the national defense.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also supported the agreement.
However, the budget plan does not address the nearly 700,000 young illegals affected by DACA, who would face deportation once the program expires.
Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California took to the floor at 10 a.m. ET to declare she would oppose the measure unless her chamber's Republican leaders promised a vote on DACA legislation.
She was still holding the House floor as of 3 p.m. ET.
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