White House ‘not sure’ if Trump will back spending deal
White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said Tuesday that he isn’t sure whether President Trump will back the spending deal reached Monday night by lawmakers that would avert another partial government shutdown.
“We’re not sure yet, to be quite honest,” Gidley said during an interview on Fox News when asked if the deal was something Trump would approve.
{mosads}He added that it’s “very difficult to comment” without seeing the details of the agreement.
“I’m not really ready to focus on what could be in there,” Gidley said. “I would like to focus on what is actually in there. We haven’t seen that yet. We’ve heard some rumors and we’ve heard some reports. We’ve seen some reporting on exactly what could or could not be in there.”
“It’s not consistent with what we’re hearing coming out of the conference committee,” he added. “So until we actually see it, it is very difficult to comment on it.”
Lawmakers said Monday night that they have reached an agreement “in principle” to provide border security funding, part of a larger deal to fund the government and avoid another shutdown later this week.
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) announced the agreement on Monday alongside Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Kay Granger (R-Texas).
The bill would include $1.375 billion for physical barriers along the border, a congressional source told The Hill on Monday.
Trump has previously demanded $5.7 billion in funding for a wall along the southern border, but lawmakers tasked with negotiating a deal had been working toward an agreement for between $1.3 billion and $2 billion in border security funding.
Lawmakers did not provide details Monday on how they would address disagreements over Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention beds, another possible point of contention in reaching a deal.
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