The threat of a USA government shutdown this weekend appeared to recede on Tuesday after President Donald Trump backed away from a demand that Congress include funding for his planned border wall with Mexico in a spending bill.
The £780 billion ($1 trillion) spending bill must pass by Friday or could result in a government shutdown.
The healthcare law was former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement, which Republicans are trying to repeal and replace.
The conservative leadership in the Upper House on Tuesday presented a new proposal with the wall construction funds out of the equation, although it includes funding for strengthening security along the US-Mexico frontier, Senate officials said. "It's going to have a huge impact on human trafficking", the President said, adding construction will start "soon". "These are things they've brought to the table very late".
Without the payments, health insurers would likely pull out of the Obamacare marketplace and could leave many Americans without a choice of insurers, but the payments are politically fraught.
Meanwhile, senior leaders of the House Freedom Caucus - the conservative bloc of lawmakers who opposed the initial Obamacare replacement plan - are scheduled to meet Tuesday evening as the House comes back into session.
A shutdown would be disastrous for Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
"There aren't enough Republican votes to put the wall in" to the spending bill, said veteran Senator Patrick Leahy, top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.
"Fifteen percent might be too low", House Republican Leonard Lance told CNN. There is a growing possibility on Capitol Hill that lawmakers may need to fall back on a week-long funding bill to avoid a shut down and keep the negotiations moving forward. "I don't know what people are talking".
Trailer Blade Runner 2019 To Arrive With Alien: Covenant
I just ate my breakfast and even though this video is all of 27 seconds long, that breakfast is not going to remain in my system. The Crossing , an official prologue short to Alien: Covenant , reveals what happened to crew members Dr.
He told NPR's "All Things Considered" Tuesday afternoon that the wall is not the cure-all across the entire border.
With jitters rippling through Washington, Trump has apparently agreed to soften his demand just days before a Friday deadline for passing a new spending bill.
Democrats had threatened to block the bill if money was earmarked for the wall, so its omission may now avert a government shutdown.
"The President and his advisers are every day, I think learning new lessons about how delicate and complicated this process is". Mr. Trump said. "One hundred percent it's getting built". But in the meantime, members of Congress might learn something from the White House. "Either we come to an agreement or don't, but they seem to be working now to get an agreement". There will be a wall built. "We're doing plans, we're doing specifications, we're doing a lot of work on the wall, and the wall is going to get built".
But on Tuesday, a defiant Trump insisted that "The wall's going to get built".
"There is a national economic and safety issue by having a wall that ensures our country's safety, and there's plenty of planning that can be done in FY17".
In apparent retaliation for the White House's continued talk of building a border wall, a senior Mexican official is considering the idea of an entry fee for US citizens entering his country.
The difficulties point to a weakness of Trump's administration, some Republicans privately say: Despite his self-proclaimed deal-making prowess, he had little exposure to the rituals and rhythms of Congress before to taking office, and his team is light on experienced legislative hands.
Comments