Talks to avert a second government shutdown over border security funding broke down late on Saturday, and Republicans and Democrats have stopped communicating for now, according to two people familiar with the talks.
The sticking point is over detention beds, both people said, an issue that would typically be regarded as a side-note to the broader talks on the level of funding for border security.
Talks could still get back on track, but the prospect of a longer-lasting deal breaking down seem to have increased. Without a funding deal, nine federal departments and related agencies would shutdown again after Friday. Negotiators had hoped to unveil a deal Monday to set up votes in the House and Senate before the shutdown deadline.
“I’ll say 50/50 we’ll get a deal,” Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We’ve got some problems with the Democrats” over funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana, said on the same broadcast that he was “not positive we’ll get to a deal.”
Earlier, Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, said Sunday that a shutdown isn’t the most likely option but that he “absolutely cannot” rule it out.
“He’s going to do whatever he legally can to secure the border,” Mulvaney said of President Donald Trump on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” one of two scheduled appearances on Sunday talk shows.
“You cannot take a shutdown off the table, and you cannot take $5.7 (billion) off the table,” he said, referring to the level of funds Trump has been demanding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-10/mulvaney-says-can-t-rule-out-another-shutdown-over-wall-funding?srnd=premium