Here’s what else is in it.
It’s official: House and Senate negotiators have a deal to fund the government through September.
Congressional lawmakers on Wednesday released the legislative text, which was put together by a special committee designated to figuring out a compromise on Homeland Security funding in the wake of a 35-day shutdown. And it doesn’t include any money for a concrete wall.
It does, however, include $1.375 billion for physical barriers, funds which can be used for “bollard fencing.”
As Vox’s Dara Lind has previously explained, “bollard fencing” is made up of a series of “steel poles, erected close enough together to prevent entry but far enough apart that Border Patrol agents can see what’s happening on the other side.” It’s effectively the same as the “steel slats” that Trump has been touting interchangeably with a wall in recent months.
As a result, this agreement enables Democrats to say that they haven’t given in to Trump’s demands for a wall, while enabling Republicans to argue that they’ve provided Trump a “down payment” for the barriers he’s interested in building.
According to a congressional Democratic aide, the deal explicitly prohibits the use of this money on a concrete wall, and only authorizes funds for “existing technologies,” like the current fencing along the southern border. Senate Appropriations Chair Richard Shelby, meanwhile, tweeted that he felt this agreement offered Trump a “down payment on his border wall.”
I just talked to the President, and he was in good spirits. I told him that I just signed the homeland security conference report and that it’s a down payment on his border wall. This is only the beginning of a multi-year effort.
— Richard Shelby (@SenShelby) February 14, 2019
While both sides are striving to frame the spending package in their favor, the amount of barrier funding in the bill is widely seen as a success for Democrats, especially since it’s actually less than what a bipartisan Senate offer included for fencing last year and far less than the $5.7 billion Trump had previously requested.
The spending package covers 9 federal departments
Border security and DHS funding may have been the main sticking point in this spending package, but the ultimate 1,159-page bill covers nine federal departments and funds them through the end of September. The departments it funds include the Transportation Department, the Agriculture Department, and the State Department, along with key agencies like the IRS.
In addition to laying out funding for 55 miles of physical barriers, the legislation allocates $1.7 billion for other border security priorities. These funds include $564 million for equipment to detect contraband at ports of entry, $100 million for surveillance technology along the southern border, and $414 million to address humanitarian border needs.
Democrats have long pushed for a border security solution that centers heavily on technology, along with physical barriers, since the overwhelming majority of contraband drugs are flowing through ports of entry.
Democrats also argue that this spending package would reduce the number of ICE detention beds from 49,057 to 40,520 by the end of 2019, though it does not include a cap on the number of detention beds that can be used for interior enforcement. Republicans, however, say the funding in the DHS bill could be used to maintain or increase the number of detention beds.
Along with these border security updates, some of the other funding increases the broader bill contains include an additional $1 billion for the 2020 Census, $1.2 billion dedicated to infrastructure construction, and $30 million to address the opioid crisis. The legislation also provides a 1.9 percent pay increase for federal workers.
What comes next
The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation Thursday afternoon, setting up a House vote for the evening. Although prospects for the deal seem promising in Congress, the main wild card that remains is President Donald Trump, who hasn’t indicated whether he’ll sign the legislation.
Senate Republicans including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have urged the president to sign the legislation, although other right-wing factions of the Republican Party like the House Freedom Caucus have pressed him to reconsider and even proposed their own short-term spending bill as an alternative.
The president had said earlier this week that he wasn’t particularly interested in going into another shutdown, even though he wasn’t “happy” with the tentative deal that had been reached at the time. Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said earlier this week that the president would likely approve the spending deal and consider executive action as a means obtaining other funds for his border wall.
“I think the president’s inclined to accept the agreement and move on and try to find the money elsewhere, and most likely declare an emergency,” Graham told reporters. In addition to declaring a national emergency, the White House has also floated using executive actions to divert funds from other sources, including treasury forfeiture reserves, CNN reports.
If he goes this route, he’s expected to frame the congressional deal as just the start of funding his wall, which will be further bolstered by money he’s obtaining elsewhere. Both a national emergency and other executive actions are expected to face legal challenges and questions about whether Trump is infringing on Congress’s constitutional role in appropriating federal funds.
With just over a day left before funding for the government runs out again, lawmakers and the White House will need to act quickly to ensure that another shutdown doesn’t take place.
from Vox - All http://bit.ly/2X0tGjb
Breaking News: Congress’s border security deal doesn’t have any wall money - News Paper
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