'If There's a Shutdown, There's a Shutdown': Can Congress Seal the Deal in Time?
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WASHINGTON – If lawmakers can't strike a deal by midnight, the government will shut down as Congress works to pass a trillion dollar budget.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says they are "very close" to completing the massive spending plan.
"We'll see what happens," President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview. "If there's a shutdown, there's a shutdown."
The bipartisan budget talks have progressed smoothly after the president compromised the U.S.-Mexico border wall, suggesting funding would wait until September.
To top that reports out of Capitol Hill reveal Republicans are willing to pass a stopgap funding measure without Democratic votes.
Congress could also approve a week-long stopgap measure to keep agencies open since neither party favors a federal shutdown.
"We are never going to shut the government down. In fact, we don't even have the power to do so," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The budget deadline comes one day before President Trump's 100th day in office.
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