Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., has summoned a group of spending negotiators to a classified briefing on border security this week in an effort to solve an impasse over border wall funding.
The briefing will be presented by Customs and Border Protection officials, who will also answer questions from the bipartisan team of 17 lawmakers from the House and Senate who are trying to hammer out a border security deal by a Feb. 15 deadline.
Shelby, along with House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., are leading the negotiations.
Republicans are trying to secure a Homeland Security Department spending deal that includes up to $5.7 billion for a border wall requested by President Trump. Democrats have said they won’t provide any wall funding because they believe it is not needed.
They said they might be willing to consider federal funding for some kind of barrier, although it’s not clear how serious they are about that offer. They have called for funding “evidence based” border security.
The CBP has supported the president’s wall funding request and said new barriers are needed in targeted areas to keep out illegal immigrants.
“It’s not political, it’s professionals,” Shelby said of the CBP officials. “We are bringing in the experts.”
