Negotiations over a $1.1 trillion spending bill needed to avert a USA government shutdown faltered Wednesday over Democrats' demand that President Donald Trump and Republicans protect a key piece of Obamacare.
In working to get Democrats to approve a new budget, Mr Trump has been forced to make concessions, including dropping his demand for money to build his famed border wall.
He said the President's flexibility on funding for his signature border wall put Democrats "on their heels".
The odds of a government shutdown ticked up on Tuesday night when Trump's budget director Mick Mulvaney reportedly told House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that the Trump administration might not cover next month's cost sharing payments for low-income people with Obamacare marketplace plans.
If Congress can not agree to either a short stopgap funding bill or a longer-term one by midnight Friday, federal agencies will run out of money and likely have to abruptly lay off hundreds of thousands of federal government workers until an appropriations bill is enacted.
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He said the construction of wall will result in less number of people and drugs coming in the U.S., which will go down by 73-74 pct. A permanent fix to the long-festering miners' health issue, costing $1.3 billion over 10 years, was a priority for Democrats like Sen. The decision to begin work on a short extension is no surprise: The final steps of a spending deal could drag on beyond the current April 28 deadline, and congressional leaders are eager to minimize the threat of a shutdown, according to aides familiar with the talks.
A new wrinkle emerged as Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking Democrat in the House, threatened to withhold votes for the short-term spending bill if Republicans tried to push for a vote this week on a revived health care repeal.
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Without action before then, the government will partially shut down Saturday, which happens to be the 100th day of Trump's presidency.
Democrats have leverage because Republicans lack the votes in the Senate to pass spending legislation on their own and because Republican leadership fears the GOP would be blamed for a government shutdown.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi warned that the goal of the stopgap measure was to tie up loose ends of a deal to provide around $1 trillion in money for the fiscal year ending September 30 and not for "kicking the can down the road to have this same back-and-forth" over funding disputes.
"Pelosi reiterated the Democratic negotiators' position that CSR payments must be included in the omnibus".
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley, of NY, had stopped short of saying the lack of subsidies would be a deal breaker but others had warned it could be problematic.
But a White House official said on background that Mulvaney didn't say the administration would end payments. "That is something separate that the administration does", Ryan said. Republicans are seeking an initial $1.4 billion in the spending bill, but many question the wisdom of an enormous wall. The Department of Homeland Security already has a plan to build 160 km worth of walls in some critical areas.
Senator Lindsey Graham warned Democrats not to risk a shutdown over the issue. At several points in the last few weeks, prominent Republicans indicated they were inclined to go along ― perhaps as part of the spending bill that Democrats and Republicans are now negotiating.
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