Trump Sides With Democrats On Government Funding, Debt Ceiling Hike
Democratic leaders largely got what they wanted from the Oval Office meeting.
By Amanda Terkel, Philip Lewis
WASHINGTON ― Democratic leaders found themselves in the unusual position of being on the same side as President Donald Trump on Wednesday, reaching agreement on a plan to keep the government funded and raise the debt ceiling.
Trump met with the top congressional Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), as well as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) Wednesday at the White House.
“In the meeting, the President and Congressional leadership agreed to pass aid for Harvey, an extension of the debt limit, and a continuing resolution both to December 15, all together. Both sides have every intention of avoiding default in December and look forward to working together on the many issues before us,” Schumer and Pelosi said in a joint statement after the meeting.
Democrats had gone into the meeting hoping to get exactly this outcome. A congressional aide briefed on the meeting said Republican leaders wanted an 18-month debt ceiling hike, and then suggested six months instead. Pelosi and Schumer dismissed a six-month hike, and Trump eventually agreed to the Democrats’ three-month proposal.
Republicans often need Democratic votes to raise the debt ceiling, because many conservatives oppose increasing the government’s borrowing limit without spending cuts to decrease the deficit. With a shorter-term debt ceiling hike coming up in December at the same time as a government funding fight, Democrats will have more leverage in the budget battle.
But by siding with Democrats, Trump rejected the wishes of his own party ― a move that reportedly left Republicans furious ― and it’s not clear how many GOP lawmakers will go along with this deal.
Earlier Wednesday, Ryan derided Democrats’ proposal to raise the debt ceiling for three months, calling the idea “ridiculous” and “disgraceful.”
“We’ve got all this devastation in Texas. We’ve got another unprecedented hurricane about to hit Florida. And they want to play politics with the debt ceiling?” Ryan told reporters. “That will strand the aid that we need to bring to the victims of these storms that have occurred or are about to occur.”
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has said that he and the president wanted the debt ceiling hike to be tied to aid for Hurricane Harvey ― a proposal opposed by many conservatives.
Ryan, McConnell and the White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
Congress has until Sept. 30 to reach a funding deal to avoid a government shutdown. Mnuchin said Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling by Sept. 29, or else the United States risks default and throwing the economy into a tailspin.
Schumer and Pelosi said they also discussed the fate of undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children and now risk deportation, thanks to an order by Trump. “As Democratic leaders, we also made it clear that we strongly believe the DREAM Act must come to the floor and pass as soon as possible and we will not rest until we get this done,” they said.
The congressional aide briefed on the meeting also said Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, came into the Oval Office toward the end to “say hello,” at which point the meeting went off topic. The GOP leaders were reportedly visibly annoyed by her presence there.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) admitted that Democrats walked away with a pretty good deal.
“For people who want to keep score, maybe that’s true,” he said when asked if Democrats received everything they wanted from Trump.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also said she was “very surprised” by the three-month debt limit deal.
