President Donald Trump and Congress appear headed for a confrontation this week as passing funding by Friday to avoid a government shutdown has become more complicated in recent days with the administration adding new demands regarding the border wall and increased military spending, CNBC reported on Monday.
Congress only returns from a two-week break with the House resuming late Tuesday night, at the same time Trump is pressing hard for some legislative accomplishments as his first 100 days in office arrives at the end of the week, coinciding with the threatened government shutdown.
To make matters more complicated, the president is also pushing the House to move quickly on another attempt to pass a bill repealing Obamacare, even though House Republicans aren't unified on the way to do so.
He has also threatened, in the meantime, not to continue paying insurance companies subsidies to bolster the Obamacare marketplace.
Adding to the hectic schedule, Trump is attempting to unveil his plan this week to overhaul the tax code, which is generally backed by Republicans but the timing of which apparently caught the GOP congressional leaders by surprise.
CNN reported that top administration officials insist there is no interest in a shutdown and that all attempts will be made to prevent one, explaining that the most likely scenario is a stopgap bill that would last about a week until a deal is reached.
The current continuing resolution, a short-term measure that funds the government at 2016 levels after Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill for 2017 last year, comes to an end of Friday.
Aides to both Republican and Democratic congressmen trying to work out a funding bill told CNBC that negotiations had been progressing well until last week, when the Trump administration demanded the politically problematic measures be put into the deal, such as $3 billion for border security and the building of a border wall, in addition to $30 billion more for defense spending.
"We've asked the president not to interfere. If he doesn't interfere, we can get this done," Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer said.
Even Republicans, such as New York Rep. Tom Reed, said politics should be kept out of the funding bill, saying, "I hope we can avoid these ideological issues and focus on keeping the lights on."
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