White House says it will prevent government shutdown on this one condition

WASHINGTON — To avoid a government shutdown, U.S. President Donald Trump would sign a stopgap spending bill, so long as it does not restrict his ability to build his border wall , a senior White House adviser told reporters Tuesday.

With government funding due to expire Nov. 22 and talks to reach a bipartisan spending deal dragging, Congress is expected to draft another stopgap spending bill. Trump’s legislative affairs director, Eric Ueland, said Trump is likely to sign a continuing resolution, or CR, into December.

“He wants to see a clean CR that does not impede him in any way or tie his hands in carrying out his policy priorities,” Ueland told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.

The comments come as Democrats and Republicans appear to have narrowed their differences on the length of the CR. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have discussed Dec. 31 as a goal to reach an agreement to fund the government.

To kick-start funding talks, which have stalled around the U.S.-Mexico border wall and funding allocations, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said he would like a face-to-face meeting with House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.

Shelby said he would prefer a continuing resolution that’s free of policy riders. But if Trump were given a CR he was disinclined to sign because it contained border wall restrictions, Shelby explained, the lawmaker would advise the president to avoid a shutdown.

“I would say to anybody, including the president, let’s don’t shut the government down,” Shelby told reporters Tuesday.

Though Shelby had floated the idea of a CR into the spring, he said Tuesday he is in favor of a CR that ends in December to buy time for talks to progress.

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, said the White House has been making shifting demands.

“The difficult thing is it’s almost as though the White House can’t focus or don’t want to focus," Leahy said. "Why don’t we just do it all, bring it up and say: ‘Vote it up or vote it down.’ ”

Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.

华盛顿——一位白宫高级顾问周二告诉记者，为了避免政府停摆，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普将签署一项临时支出法案，只要该法案不限制他修建边境墙的能力。

由于政府拨款将于11月22日到期，而两党就支出协议达成的谈判又陷入僵局，预计国会将起草另一项临时支出法案。特朗普的立法事务主任埃里克·尤兰德表示，特朗普很可能会签署一项持续拨款决议（CR），将拨款期限延长至12月。

“他希望看到一份干净的持续拨款法案，不会以任何方式阻碍他，也不会束缚他执行其政策优先事项的手脚，”尤兰德周二在国会大厦告诉记者。

在这些评论出台之际，民主党和共和党似乎已经缩小了在持续拨款法案期限问题上的分歧。参议院多数党领袖、肯塔基州共和党参议员米奇·麦康奈尔和众议院议长、加利福尼亚州民主党众议员南希·佩洛西已将12月31日作为达成政府拨款协议的目标日期。

为了重启因美墨边境墙和资金分配问题而陷入僵局的拨款谈判，参议院拨款委员会主席、阿拉巴马州共和党参议员理查德·谢尔比表示，他希望与众议院拨款委员会主席、纽约州民主党众议员妮塔·洛伊进行面对面会谈。

谢尔比表示，他更倾向于不附加任何政策条款的持续拨款决议。但他解释说，如果特朗普收到一份他不愿意签署的持续拨款决议，因为其中包含边境墙限制条款，那么他会建议总统避免政府停摆。

“我想对所有人说，包括总统在内，我们不要关闭政府，”谢尔比周二告诉记者。

尽管谢尔比在春季曾提出过一项临时拨款法案的想法，但他周二表示，他赞成一项在 12 月结束的临时拨款法案，以便为谈判取得进展争取时间。

参议院拨款委员会首席民主党议员、来自佛蒙特州的参议员帕特里克·莱希表示，白宫的要求一直在变化。

“难就难在，白宫似乎要么无法集中精力，要么根本不想集中精力，”莱希说。“为什么我们不干脆把所有事情都提出来，然后说：‘投赞成票还是投反对票’呢？”

乔·古尔德是《防务新闻》的资深五角大楼记者，负责报道国家安全政策、政治和国防工业的交汇点。他此前曾担任国会记者。