The House plans to vote Thursday evening on a border security and spending bill that will avert a second government shutdown if signed into law.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said leaders are waiving a requirement that would allow members 72 hours to review the bill in order to beat a Feb. 15 deadline, when the current spending measure expires.
“We need certainly, we need to resolve this, and if we can get there without creating further anxiety and lack of confidence and disruption in the confidence, and confidence in our allies, we ought to do it,” Hoyer said, explaining the need to vote this week.
Hoyer and other Democratic leaders said they backed the deal, even though it forced them to make some concessions, notably the withdrawal of a new cap on illegal immigrant detentions. Hoyer called the deal “a supportable compromise … a reasonable compromise, not a perfect document, not everything we wanted.”
The House will vote on the measure late Thursday, Hoyer said.
The House will not hold votes during the day Thursday, in order to let lawmakers to attend the funeral of the late Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who died this week. The Senate will vote soon after House passage.
After that, Hoyer said, “It appears we are ready to move ahead, and the president will sign this bill.”
Both parties said Wednesday they back the accord. It provides $1.375 billion for structural barriers along the 55 miles of the southern border, which is far below President Trump’s request for $5.7 billion for up to 200 miles of a barriers.
It includes an agreement on how to fund nine departments an dozens of agencies, amounting to a quarter of all federal spending. Hoyer said the deal adds in a 1.9 percent pay increase for federal employees.
House Democrats met privately early Wednesday to discuss the deal. Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., emerged afterward and said he expects Democrats to provide “strong support” when the measure comes up for a vote Thursday.
House Republicans said they also back the measure, even though the wall funding falls short of what they believe is needed to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing into the United States from Mexico.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said he wants to ensure the framework of the deal is indeed in the legislative text, due out later today.
“You can’t get everything that you request; you’re going to have to find some common ground,” McCarthy told reporters Wednesday. “So, not everyone’s going to be happy about the agreement, but does it put a framework in to make sure we are going to be able to secure the border? That’s what I’ll be looking for in the language when it comes out.”
