WASHINGTON – A fix appeared within reach for lawmakers in the House of Representatives on the fourth day of a partial government shutdown over immigration enforcement and the January killings of two Minnesotans by federal agents.
Congress is readying a funding package to fund the Department of Homeland of Security for just two weeks while lawmakers negotiate over broader reforms to the agency, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and Customs and Border Protection, or CBP.
PresidentDonald Trumptold reporters in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon that he'd spoken to GOP leaders in the House and Senate.
"I think they're pretty close to a resolution," he said.
A committee in the House advanced the group of five appropriations bills, plus the short-term DHS spending measure, on Monday night. The larger chamber is expected to vote on proceeding to end the shutdown, though a lack of widespread support from House Democrats will mean the White House will need as many Republican votes as possible.
Stark partisan divide over immigration enforcement funding
Leaders of the House Rules Committee, which moved the shutdown-ending funding package forward on Monday night, revealed a sharp partisan divide.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, said the House never flirted with agovernment shutdown,but she said the Senate "torpedoed" a previous spending package. She encouraged quick approval of the measure to allow lawmakers to work on other matters.
"To describe this as disappointing would be an understatement," Foxx said. "This process should have been over and done with by now."
The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, spoke for many Democrats in opposing the spending legislation for DHS, citing the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti last month.
"I'm not voting to fund this agency for two seconds let alone two weeks," McGovern said. "They are terrorizing our communities and acting like they're above the law."
Is Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid impacted during government shutdown?
No, mandatory spending that is not subject to annual appropriations, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, does not close during a partial shutdown, according to theCommittee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
National parks and food inspection services are running as normal, too, the CRFB says.
But the partial closure can mean certain federal operations are stopped or scaled back to ensure only essential work is happening.
For example, guidance from theDepartment of Educationahead of the lengthy 2025 shutdown said investigations into civil rights complaints would be paused. TheU.S. Department of Health and Human Servicessays in its contingency plan for the fiscal year it will not be able to process public information requests, and the National Institutes of Health will not admit new patients in clinical research trials. But it said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would continue monitoring for outbreaks.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Government shutdown could end today. Live updates
