Trump Threatens Spending Bill Veto, Raising Prospect of Shutdown

News March 23, 2018 at 10:24 AM
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President Donald Trump said he's considering a veto of the $1.3 trillion spending bill that won final passage by Congress Friday morning, reversing his administration's previous statements and raising the prospect that he'll shut down the government over the failure to get a deal on immigration and his border wall.

U.S. government funding is set to expire at midnight and, if Trump follows through on his threat it almost assuredly would trigger the third partial shutdown of the year.

"I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded,' Trump tweeted Friday.

Many members of the House left Washington after that chamber passed the massive spending bill on Thursday and striking a deal on immigration would require negotiations that so far have failed. The Senate voted early Friday morning to approve final passage.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said Thursday that Trump would sign the measure because it funds his priorities.

"Let's cut right to the chase. Is the president going to sign the bill? The answer is yes. Why? Because it funds his priorities," he said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin delivered a summary of the bill to President Donald Trump at the White House Wednesday afternoon. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined the meeting, which included Vice President Mike Pence, by telephone.

Both Ryan's office and the White House released statements afterward saying the president and the two congressional leaders discussed their support for the legislation. The statement from the speaker's office said they had a conversation "about the wins delivered for the president" in the bill.

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