Politics
Dems Can’t Count Think 1.3 Billion Is Close Enough For Wall…
![](https://breakingnewsalerts.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/democrats-5-ss.jpg)
Congressional negotiators revealed Monday evening that they've reached “an agreement in principle” on border security funding that includes more than $1.3 billion for physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.
When asked if they had an agreement that President Trump would approve, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters: “We think so. We hope so.” Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, declined to give details of the deal but said a final text could be released by Wednesday.
[wps_products_gallery product_id=”4333970718771, 4344714494003, 4333915537459″]
Lawmakers have until 11:59 p.m. Friday to get the agreement through both houses of Congress and signed by Trump before several Cabinet-level departments shut down and hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed in what would be the second partial government shutdown this year.
Sources tell Fox News the $1.3 billion can be used only for new construction that would cover approximately 55 miles of border territory in the Rio Grande Valley.
The White House had requested $5.7 billion for the border wall and the administration had dangled the possibility that Trump would declare a national emergency and divert money from the federal budget for wall construction, but that move almost certainly would be challenged in Congress as well as in the courts.
![](https://breakingnewsalerts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/BNA-Logo_main_ver02-1-e1575073171230.png)