Politics

House Republicans Left In Dark Over Government Funding Deal Details

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
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WASHINGTON — Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby announced Monday night that congressional negotiators reached an agreement to fund the border wall, thereby avoiding another government shutdown on Friday, but House Republican leadership had not seen details of the agreement when Shelby made his pronouncement.

Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Graves, a member of the bipartisan Conference Committee who has been negotiating the deal since the government re-opened nearly three weeks ago, tweeted Tuesday morning, “I haven’t signed off on the reported ‘deal,’ nor have I seen it. Based on the reports, I have concerns. Lots of questions, too.”

When The Daily Caller asked House Minority Whip Steve Scalise about Graves comment he replied, “He hasn’t he hasn’t seen the details I haven’t seen the details. I don’t think Leader McCarthy has seen the details.”

He added, “Clearly, the details matter and I’m waiting to see those and I want to speak to the president later today as we’ll  see where he is once he sees all the details.” (RELATED: Trump Stumped: President May Sign Deal He’s ‘Not Happy’ With)

The agreement described by Shelby Monday night includes $1.375 billion for a border barrier is well below the $5.7 billion President Trump originally wanted for a border wall. Additionally, Democrats indicated the number of beds in the border detention centers would be brought down to 40,520 by the end of the year.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 04: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) is flanked by Vice President Mike Pence (R), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) while speaking to the media after a meeting with Congressional leaders about ending the partial government shutdown, in the Rose Garden at the White House on January 4, 2019 in Washington, DC. The U.S government is going into the 13th day of a partial shutdown with Republicans and Democrats at odds on agreeing with President Donald Trump's demands for more money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) is flanked by Vice President Mike Pence (R), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) while speaking to the media. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Democrat’s demand to cap the number of detainees at 16,500, however, was rejected by Republicans.

Scalise told the Caller:

The limitations are something that I’ve always been concerned about you know where currently they can’t build in parts of the Rio Grande where our Border Patrol agents say the worst offenses are occurring. Those limitations have to be removed. You’ve got to be able to build more wall. I’m not sure how much new wall will be included in this package, and I’m really eager to see that. The detention beds had been something that Pelosi had been targeting. It would be ridiculous to limit detention beds. Hopefully, were able to preserve that.

Shelby believes that Republicans in both chambers will eventually unite behind an agreement, telling the Caller, “Well, we’re going to be on the same page, otherwise we’d have no deal.”

President Trump, however, already announced his displeasure with the agreement saying at a Cabinet meeting at The White House Tuesday, “Am I happy? The answer is no, I’m not. I’m not happy.”

When asked by the Caller to respond to the president’s initial reaction of, Senate Majority Whip Jon Cornyn said, “Well he’s important that that isn’t a rejection of it. And I think he’s just going to keep his options open.”

Democrats are urging the president to sign the agreement as is, though.

“No one got everything they wanted in this bill but sign it and don’t cause a shutdown. Leaders of the conference committee have found an agreement in principle to keep the government open,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters. “The details are still being hammered out but the tentative agreement represents a welcome path forward for our country.”

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Kerry Picket is a host on SiriusXM Patriot125