McConnell: Avoiding shutdown requires ‘laser focus’

WASHINGTON — The Senate’s top Republican issued a downbeat assessment of talks on a government spending bill Wednesday, warning that it will require a “laser focus from both parties and both chambers” to meet next week’s deadline and avert a federal shutdown.

Across the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Hispanic lawmakers about the upcoming appropriations measure, which is likely to largely maintain President Donald Trump’s tactical ability to fund his much-sought border wall.

It’s part of an effort to solidify support for the emerging catchall funding bill, which promises to deliver plenty of small-bore victories for lawmakers in both parties and is seen as preferable to the alternative of simply keeping the government on autopilot. Trump cares mostly about border fence funding.

“To be frank, only a laser focus from both parties and both chambers on getting results will create a path to pass appropriations bills this year,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “There simply is not time left for my Democratic friends to continue haggling over … poison pills, partisan policy riders and presidential transfer authorities.”

Nobody wants a government shutdown when a stopgap spending bill expires at the end of next week, but time is running out and it’s not at all certain that negotiations can close in time for the Senate to process a year-end spending package. Another temporary funding bill, called a continuing resolution, could be needed to avert a repeat of last year’s 35-day partial federal shutdown.

At issue is the almost one-third of the federal budget passed by Congress each year for day-to-day operations of federal agencies. This year’s annual appropriations cycle was supposed to be relatively easy after this summer’s budget and debt deal reversed a sharp set of spending cuts that would have otherwise struck both the Pentagon and domestic agencies.

But a Senate GOP move to more than triple a key border wall account to meet Trump’s demands sparked a two-month stalemate. Negotiations are back on track, with most of Trump’s $5 billion wall demand being returned to other domestic accounts.