Washington Examiner White House reporter Christian Datoc said the Trump administration is seeking to “make a deal” to avoid another government shutdown before the midterm elections.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to lapse on Friday at midnight. Datoc said that the White House has “publicly” been hesitant to engage with Democratic lawmakers on their various demands, such as “judicial warrants” for migrant arrests and DHS officers being “easily” identifiable.
However, Datoc said “behind the scenes,” senior White House officials have told him President Donald Trump views DHS funding as a “priority.”
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“He does not want to fall into another government shutdown ahead of the midterms, and they’re really kind of willing to make a deal here to ensure that one: the president can signal to his base, which is still greatly in favor of these mass deportations, that he is committed to that agenda, while signaling to independent voters, Democrats, folks who are squishier about this entire deportation conversation, that he is hearing their concerns and he is willing to make changes,” Datoc said on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.
Datoc also said the White House sent a counterproposal for DHS funding to Democratic leadership on Monday, though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) have said it “didn’t address the concerns of voters.” However, Datoc added that Republican leadership is “committed to trying to find common ground.”
Datoc cited “the language” in the DHS funding package that was stripped from the recent omnibus bill, which included requiring DHS officers to wear body cameras in the field and “enhancing” the officers’ training methods.
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Trump said last week that he “learned that maybe we could use a little bit of a softer touch” when reflecting on the deportation efforts in Minnesota. Datoc said he didn’t “necessarily” have an answer to what Trump specifically means on this softer touch, but Trump “understands optics,” and recognizes DHS funding is “a major losing issue for Republicans” that must be addressed ahead of the midterm elections.
The feud over DHS funding comes a few months after the longest government shutdown in its history, lasting a little more than six weeks.
