Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Trump negotiated toward a bargain on immigration reform that could have satisfied both parties and reduced the likelihood of a shutdown, the New York Times reported hours before government funding expired at midnight Saturday. Democrats would have received a DACA fix—and Trump would have received some sort of spending commitment for a southern border wall.
What type of commitment Schumer made in his closed-door meeting with the president is a point of disagreement between the two parties. According to the Times’s source, Schumer “discussed the possibility of fully funding” the wall. The White House disputed the word “fully”—budget director Mick Mulvaney said the deal was for only $1.6 billion, which amounts to a down payment on the expected cost of $20 billion. A spokesman for Schumer fired back: “Director Mulvaney was not in the lunch, and is not telling the truth. Period, full stop.”
