Trump endorses bipartisan deal to avoid government shutdown

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump endorsed a deal that was struck on Thursday between Senate Democrats and Republicans that could avert a government shutdown and buy more time to negotiate restrictions on the administration’s immigration crackdown.

The agreement, if it holds, would allow the Senate to act before a Friday midnight deadline to fund a large portion of the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.

The two sides agreed to separate homeland security funding from a larger spending bill and fund the department for two weeks as talks continue on demands made by the Democrats for curbs on the agency of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is part of the DHS.

The deal comes after Senate Democrats voted on Thursday to block legislation to fund the DHS. The Democrats requested the two-week extension, and said they would block the wide-ranging spending bill if their demands aren't met, which would trigger another shutdown.

Senators said they hoped to vote on the deal on Friday, after their hopes of pushing it through on Thursday night faded amid objections from rank-and-file Republicans.

But the deal reflected an abrupt political shift that has taken hold at the White House and on Capitol Hill after the fatal shooting last weekend of Alex Pretti, an American citizen, by a federal agent in Minneapolis, the second such killing this month.

Trump has rushed this week to change the face of his immigration operations in Minneapolis, and Republicans in Congress who rarely criticize him or his administration have vented their concern about the tactics being used and the goals of the operation, conceding that major changes are needed.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican, objected to swiftly passing the deal. He called the agreement a “bad deal” that it included a House-authored provision to repeal a law that created a new avenue for senators to sue the government if federal investigators gained access to their phone records without notifying them.

Graham, who under the law was eligible to seek at least $500,000 in damages, had been among the only senators to publicly defend the measure.

Related Article

Trump says Hamas will disarm as Gaza peace process moves forward

Speaker Mike Johnson said that the earliest the House could act would be Monday.

“We may inevitably be in a short shutdown situation,” Johnson told reporters Thursday night. “But the House is going to do its job.”

The agreement came after Democrats earlier on Thursday followed through on their pledge to oppose the spending package, which includes $64.4 billion for the Department of Homeland Security as well as an array of government agencies, including the Pentagon and health programs. Every Democrat opposed moving forward, as did several Republicans, citing various spending objections.

In a social media post, Trump endorsed the deal, saying “another long and damaging Government Shutdown” would be bad for the country. “Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote” to the agreement, he wrote.

Republican lawmakers had also said they were hopeful about avoiding a prolonged shutdown — following the record-breaking 43-day lapse in federal funding last fall — and criticized Democrats’ opposition to the funding package.

“This nation deserves safety and security,” said Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 2 Senate Republican. “Not another government shutdown.”

Based on assessments by Morgan Stanley and major US media outlets, if a shutdown materializes, it is more likely to take the form of a short-lived, partial fiscal disruption.

From a macroeconomic perspective, its overall impact is expected to remain manageable, though localized pressure on specific industries, employment groups and market sentiment should not be overlooked.

At the same time, analysis by Bloomberg and CNN highlights that even a partial shutdown can generate tangible operational frictions. These may include disruptions to air travel, delayed pay for some federal employees, interruptions to loan approvals, and suspensions of certain administrative services — creating short-term pressure for sectors and regions that depend heavily on government spending or public services. — Agencies