Trump declares national emergency to fund the wall

Our live coverage on the averted shutdown and President Trump’s national emergency declaration has ended. Read more from CNN Politics here.

As confirmed earlier by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, a White House press release confirms that President Trump has signed the spending bill. 

Parts of the government were set to shut down tonight at midnight if the President did not sign the bill into law.

 Here’s the statement:

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that it will file a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration.

“By the president’s very own admission in the Rose Garden, there is no national emergency. He just grew impatient and frustrated with Congress, and decided to move along his promise for a border wall ‘faster,’” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement.

The ACLU said it plans to argue “that President Trump’s use of emergency powers to evade Congressional funding restrictions is unprecedented.” The group said it will release more details about the lawsuit next week.

Read the full statement here.

President Trump just signed a spending bill to avert another government shutdown, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed to reporters on the North Lawn.

She said that the President signed the bill, which both the House and Senate passed last night, about “20 minutes ago.”

Parts of the government were set to shutdown tonight at midnight if the President did not sign the bill into law.

The White House just released the full text of President Trump’s national emergency declaration. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted a picture of Trump signing the proclamation earlier today.

Here’s the presidential proclamation:

DECLARING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY CONCERNING THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THE UNITED STATES

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 A PROCLAMATION

     The current situation at the southern border presents a border security and humanitarian crisis that threatens core national security interests and constitutes a national emergency. The southern border is a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics. The problem of large-scale unlawful migration through the southern border is long-standing, and despite the executive branch’s exercise of existing statutory authorities, the situation has worsened in certain respects in recent years. In particular, recent years have seen sharp increases in the number of family units entering and seeking entry to the United States and an inability to provide detention space for many of these aliens while their removal proceedings are pending. If not detained, such aliens are often released into the country and are often difficult to remove from the United States because they fail to appear for hearings, do not comply with orders of removal, or are otherwise difficult to locate. In response to the directive in my April 4, 2018, memorandum and subsequent requests for support by the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense has provided support and resources to the Department of Homeland Security at the southern border. Because of the gravity of the current emergency situation, it is necessary for the Armed Forces to provide additional support to address the crisis.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), hereby declare that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States, and that section 12302 of title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretaries of the military departments concerned, subject to the direction of the Secretary of Defense in the case of the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. To provide additional authority to the Department of Defense to support the Federal Government’s response to the emergency at the southern border, I hereby declare that this emergency requires use of the Armed Forces and, in accordance with section 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1631), that the construction authority provided in section 2808 of title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretary of Defense and, at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, to the Secretaries of the military departments. I hereby direct as follows:

     Section 1. The Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of each relevant military department, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall order as many units or members of the Ready Reserve to active duty as the Secretary concerned, in the Secretary’s discretion, determines to be appropriate to assist and support the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security at the southern border.   

     Sec. 2. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and, subject to the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretaries of the military departments, shall take all appropriate actions, consistent with applicable law, to use or support the use of the authorities herein invoked, including, if necessary, the transfer and acceptance of jurisdiction over border lands.

     Sec. 3. This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 

    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third.

                             DONALD J. TRUMP

During his immigration speech in the Rose Garden earlier today, President Trump said, “I have a lot of money, and I built a lot of wall” – a misleading claim.

As of Friday, no new miles of wall have been constructed during Trump’s tenure. The walls that have been built during Trump’s time in office have been replacement projects for already existing structures.

A number of contracts have been awarded for these projects: Among them, nearly $300 million to build 40 miles of replacement structures in multiple locations. As of December, 35 of those 40 miles had been completed, according to Andrew Meehan of Customs and Border Protection.

However, there are preparations for new wall construction underway. CBP has awarded contracts for around 14 miles of new wall. Construction in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas is expected to begin this month. Site preparations have already begun, according to a senior CBP official. 

In his immigration speech in the Rose Garden, President Trump claimed that “two weeks ago, 26 were killed in a gunfight on the border a mile away from where I went.” 

During the funding stalemate that shut down the government, the President visited McAllen, Texas in January. 

Here’s what we know: A day before his visit, Mexican authorities found a grisly scene that they described as a gang clash: At least 20 bodies, many of them burned, and military-style bullets, according to Irving Barrios Mojica, the attorney general of Tamaulipas.

But the bodies were found near the Mexican town of Miguel Aleman, located nearly 130 miles northwest from McAllen, according to Google Maps. 

CNN has found no reports of 26 people killed in a gunfight within a mile of the area Trump visited.

In his immigration speech today announcing a national emergency, Trump said, “A big majority of the big drugs, the big drug loads don’t go through ports of entry.”

It’s unclear what exactly Trump is claiming here regarding “big drug loads,” but the majority of hard narcotics seized at the border are coming through ports of entry — not between them as the President continues to claim.

Here are the facts: 

The majority of hard narcotics seized by Customs and Border Protection come through ports of entry either in packages, cargo or with people who attempt to enter the US legally.

The only drug that is smuggled in higher numbers between legal entry points is marijuana, according to CBP and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

For example, the majority of the heroin flow on the southern border into the US is through privately owned vehicles at legal ports of entry, according to the DEA. About 90% of heroin seized at the border in the 2018 fiscal year was apprehended at ports of entry.

The majority of meth is also detained at the border. In 2018, CBP seized 67,292 pounds of meth at legal ports of entry, compared with 10,382 pounds by Border Patrol agents in between ports, based on available data.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Trump’s national emergency declaration is a “predictable and understandable” reaction to obstruction by the Democrats.

McConnell — who had previously opposed an emergency declaration — said Thursday he would support the move after Trump agreed to sign the compromise legislation to avert another government shutdown.

Here’s McConnell’s full statement from today:

“President Trump’s decision to announce emergency action is the predictable and understandable consequence of Democrats’ decision to put partisan obstruction ahead of the national interest. I urge my Democratic colleagues to quickly get serious, put partisanship aside, and work with the president and our homeland security experts to provide the funding needed to secure our borders as we begin the next round of appropriations.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a defiant statement today after President Trump declared a national emergency at the border:

“President Trump is manufacturing a crisis and declaring a made-up ‘national emergency’ in order to seize power and subvert the constitution. This ‘emergency’ is a national disgrace, and the blame lays solely at the feet of the President. Meanwhile, he plans to shutdown and divert funds used by California law enforcement that run counter-narcotics operations and fight drug cartels to build his wall. Our message back to the White House is simple and clear: California will see you in court.​​”

This could be the start of a long, nationwide legal battle. House Democrats are expected to sue, though chances of succeeding are slim. They could argue that the situation along the border is not a national emergency – but the definition of a national emergency is vague and largely up to the President’s discretion.

Similarly, landowners along the border whose property is at risk of being seized to mount physical barriers could file suit, and would have a better chance at a successful challenge.

Organizations might also get embroiled in the fight. The Border Network for Human Rights, a immigration reform and advocacy group, stated this morning that they are preparing to announce a lawsuit against the state of emergency declaration.

While President Trump declared a national emergency today in order to secure funding for his border wall, his Trump administration still hasn’t acquired the land it needs to build new physical barriers along the border, even as it embarks on new construction.

The timeline for construction for the first new 14 miles of wall — which is expected to begin in late March — partly depends on real estate acquisitions, according to a senior CBP official.

The start of construction was already pushed back from February to March, according to CBP estimates. It’s unclear what led to the delay.

How this will work: The administration plans to target the Rio Grande Valley, where much of the land is privately owned. Generally, the government is allowed to acquire privately owned land if it’s for public use, otherwise known as eminent domain.

The first approximately 14 miles of steel bollard wall to be built in the region will be on a combination of federal land and private land, which is still in the process of being acquired, said the official.

Eminent domain cases can be lengthy, though they generally don’t keep CBP from being able to proceed with construction. Landowners are often fighting for what is known as just compensation — what they deem a fair price for their property.

According to the Justice Department, as of last month, approximately 80 cases were still outstanding.

President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency to fund the wall has drawn condemnation from Democrats — and it has not found universal support among Republicans, either.

“I’m disappointed with both the massive, bloated, secretive bill that just passed and with the president’s intention to declare an emergency to build a wall,” Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky tweeted Thursday, ahead of Trump’s expected announcement. “Extraconstitutional executive actions are wrong, no matter which party does them.”

“I generally don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida yesterday.

And Sen. Susan Collins of Maine also tweeted a statement, calling the decision “a mistake on the part of the President” and “just not good policy.”

Former Rep. Charlie Dent, now a CNN political commentator, criticized President Trump’s national emergency declaration as an illegal raid of the military’s construction funds. He said the move is “a slap in the face to congress and their power of the purse.”

“Of course, we need to establish control of the border, and the President is incapable of articulating a coherent plan,” Dent said. “But to raid military construction accounts – he is breaking the law. You cannot take money from a defense purpose to a non-defense purpose under the budget act. That is the law.”

He added that Republican members of the armed services committee were likely to “set themselves on fire over this,” describing the declaration as “a slap in the face to Congress and their power of the purse making authorities.”

Watch the moment:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said President Trump’s national emergency declaration does “great violence” to the US Constitution.

In a joint statement, they said the so-called crisis at the border that Trump described “does not exist.”

They urged their Republican colleagues to fight against the declaration.

“Just as both parties honored our oath to protect the American people by passing the conference committee bill, the Congress on a bipartisan basis must honor the Constitution by defending our system of checks and balances,” they said. “The President is not above the law. The Congress cannot let the President shred the Constitution,”

Here’s their full statement:

Even as he prepares to sign a national emergency declaration, President Trump appeared to complain that the border security appropriations bill he will sign provides too much funding.

Still, he said, the one area where Democrats refused to give him sufficient funding is on the border wall – hence requiring the national emergency.

Trump also lamented that he wasn’t able to build the wall earlier in his presidency, blaming others who he said, “didn’t step up.”

“Would’ve been great to do it earlier, but I was a little new to the job,” he said.

“People did not step up – would’ve been easy, not easy, but it would’ve been a lot easier, but some people didn’t step up,” Trump said, apparently referring to the once-Republican controlled House.

“But we’re stepping up now.”

Watch the moment:

As President Trump takes questions in the Rose Garden, press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted a black-and-white photograph of the President signing the national emergency declaration in the Oval Office.

President Donald Trump defended his decision to pull funds from the Department of Defense military construction budget in order to build a border wall, claiming that “some of the generals think this is more important.”

Trump also touted the fact that he’s increased the military budget in recent years.

President Trump said he’ll sign the final paper work to declare a national emergency to fund his wall as soon as he gets back to his office — and he’s already anticipating a legal challenge.

After he signs national emergency and executive action paperwork, Trump said, “We will then be sued,” rattling off a possible chain of events, which included bad ruling in the 9th Circuit Court, which he has previously lamented.

“We will possibly get another bad ruling, and then we’ll get another bad ruling, and then we’ll end up in the Supreme Court,” Trump said, comparing the process to challenges to his administration’s travel ban.

“And then, hopefully, we’ll get a fair shake.”

What this is about: There has been speculation that Democrats or landowners on the Souther border would sue if President Trump declared a national emergency to build the wall.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said just yesterday that the Democrats could take legal action.

“I may. That’s an option,” she told reporters Thursday.

Watch the moment:

Speaking from the Rose Garden, President Trump confirmed he will declare a national emergency in order to secure funding to build a wall at the southern border.

He argued that his actions are consistent with those of his predecessors.

“I’m going to be signing a national emergency, and it’s been signed many times before. It’s been signed by other presidents from 1977 or so it gave the presidents the power,” Trump said. “There’s rarely been a problem. They sign it, nobody cares. I guess they weren’t very exciting.”

The President argued that he is doing so to address “an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, with all types of criminals and gangs.”

“We don’t control our own border,” Trump said. “We’re going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border and we’re going to do it – one way or the other we have to do it.”

Trump went on to repeat his past talking points about “tremendous amounts of drugs” crossing into the US from the southern border – even though the majority of those drugs come through ports of entry – and addressed the issue of human trafficking.

He once again reiterated his claim that El Paso is safer because of the border fencing, despite statistics showing violent crime rates did not go down as a result of the construction of fencing there.

Watch the moment:

As Trump launched into his immigration speech at the Rose Garden, he pledged action against “the national security crisis on our southern border.”

“We are going to do it one way or the other. We have to do it. Not just because it was a campaign promise – which it is.”

He then decried the “drugs flowing into our country” through the southern border, and accused Democrats of lying about drugs entering through ports of entry.

“They go through areas where you have no wall. Everybody knows that. Nancy knows it. Chuck knows it. They all know it. It’s all a big lie. It’s a big con game,” he said, referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.

Some context: In describing the effectiveness of the wall, Trump brought up El Paso, Texas, where he held a rally Monday night. He described the border town’s crime rate decreasing since the construction of a border fence — a familiar but inaccurate claim. Violent crime had actually been falling a full decade before the fence was built.

President Trump just began speaking at the White House. The White House said his remarks would be about “the National Security and Humanitarian Crisis on the Southern Border,” and we’re expecting Trump to declare a national emergency in order to fund his border wall.

But he started his speech by talking about a variety of other issues. Here’s a look:

White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said President Donald Trump is declaring a national emergency because Congress is “simply incapable of providing the amount of money necessary in the President’s eyes” to secure the southern border.

“We’ve been through a shutdown. We’ve now been through 3 weeks of allowing Congress to try and work their will and they’re simply incapable of providing the amount of money necessary in the President’s eyes to address the current situation at the border,” Mulvaney said.

Mulvaney confirmed CNN’s reporting from Thursday evening on the breakdown in the funding, with additional money being drawn from the Homeland Security appropriations bill, the Treasury Department’s drug forfeiture fund and the Defense Department.

The latter requires the national emergency.

Mulvaney emphasized that the President will NOT be drawing on disaster relief funding for Texas or Puerto Rico.

While Trump initially planned to sign the funding bill during his Rose Garden event, Mulvaney said that is now scheduled to take place “probably later today or tomorrow” because the White House is still waiting to receive the bill from the Senate.

Mulvaney also rejected the argument that Trump’s action sets a bad precedent by using his national emergency powers.

“It actually creates zero precedent,” Mulvaney said, arguing Trump is using authority given to him by Congress. “This is authority given to the President in law already.”

House Democratic leaders plan to make it a top priority to try to approve a resolution to block Trump’s emergency declaration, but they are still trying to sort out exactly how that plays out, per multiple sources involved in the discussions.

The Democrats are studying their various legislative options, and multiple committees will likely be involved, however the House Judiciary Committee might take the lead.

But they have time: The House is in recess next week, so they have some time to discuss their options before they return to session.

President Trump is expected to declare a national emergency today in order to secure funding for his border wall.

National emergencies can last for one year and then terminate — unless the President renews the declaration 90 days prior, said Robert Chesney, who previously served in the Justice Department and teaches at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

Then, every six months, Congress can consider whether to put forward a “joint resolution” to terminate the emergency. 

Here’s how the “joint resolution” to end one would look like: Once the House passes the resolution, the Senate has 18 days to vote on it. Even if the Senate passes it, Trump can still override the resolution. And then Congress would have to be able to override his veto. 

President Donald Trump has signaled to lawmakers that, though he will sign the compromise border security legislation, he also plans to declare a national emergency to secure funding for a border wall.

This would allow him to use money already allocated by Congress for other purposes.

Here’s why that matters: If Trump moves forward with the national emergency, it may be a major constitutional breach. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution says that while the executive branch can ask for whatever it wants, it’s up to Congress to decide where the money actually goes.

We already know that a national emergency will be legally challenged. House Democrats are expected to sue, and landowners along the border whose property is at risk of being seized to mount physical barriers could also file suit.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement that declaring a national emergency would be a “lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency.”

Legality aside, this decision also sets a potential precedent for future presidents to push their own agenda items – imagine a Democratic president declaring a national emergency to fight climate change, or restrict gun ownership.

House Republicans have now been handed a political grenade. They are forced into either supporting a national emergency – and its dangerous precedent – or rebuking a Republican president still popular with the base on his signature issue.

President Trump is expected to declare a national emergency today, in order to reallocate money for a total of $8 billion in government money to fund the wall.

But it won’t be the only active national emergency: In fact, there are 31 others currently in effect — and the oldest dates back to 1979.

Another 26 national emergencies have been declared and ended in that time period.

Here’s a look at them:

President Trump is expected to soon sign a compromise deal that will fund the government and avert another shutdown. But the deal will only provide $1.375 billion for border barriers — far short of what the President has asked for to build his long-promised border wall.

So Trump is expected to turn to executive action to secure another $8 billion in government money to fund the wall.

A White House official said Trump will both sign the funding bill and the paperwork for his executive actions, including the national emergency, at an event in the Rose Garden at 10 a.m. today.

That White House official said the funding will break down as:

President Trump would deliver remarks at 10 a.m. ET today, the White House announced late Thursday night. The White House said the speech will be on “the National Security and Humanitarian Crisis on the Southern Border.” 

What we’re watching for: It is widely expected that he will sign the compromise funding legislation passed by the House and Senate last night, and then through executive action declare a national emergency with respect to the border. 

A White House official confirms reports that the President plans to use the declaration to announce he will allocate additional funds from other projects to fund additional parts of the border wall totaling $8 billion. 

What this means: A declaration of a national emergency to bypass Congress and reprogram funds already allocated by lawmakers would represent Trump’s most striking assault yet on the system of constitutional order that he is sworn to preserve, protect and defend.

Our live coverage has ended for the night, but we’ll be back tomorrow morning. Scroll through the posts below to see the final votes or follow CNN Politics.

President Trump is expected to sign both the compromise border security bill and the paperwork for the executive actions he is undertaking to build the wall during a Rose Garden event tomorrow, a White House official said.

The President will sign the documents during the 10 a.m. ET event tomorrow in the Rose Garden currently billed on his schedule as delivering “remarks on the national security and humanitarian crisis on our southern border.” That’s the plan as of now, this official said.

A White House official said Trump is expected to announce that he will use executive action to draw on a variety of administration funding sources to help finance construction of his wall on the border. A national emergency declaration is expected to be one part of that.

The official confirmed the President is set to announce the total amount to be in the range of $8 billion. The official did not specify where all of that money would come from or whether the White House executive action would withstand a court challenge. Democrats are likely to take the matter to court.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised lawmakers for working together and passing a spending deal to avert a shutdown at a bill signing ceremony tonight.

“Three hundred votes on the floor of the House,” she said. “It was quite a remarkable show.”

The House vote, which took place late this evening, was 300 to 128. The Senate vote, which took place earlier in the day, was 83 to 16.

The compromise deal will only provide $1.375 billion for border barriers, far short of what President Trump has asked for to build his long-promised border wall. The bill is expected to go to the President’s desk for his signature tomorrow. 

Pelosi went on to thank lawmakers for protecting the country by “securing our border and protecting our values.”

While Pelosi did not mention Trump by name at the ceremony, she said reminded House members about their oaths.

“Where we go from here will be for us all to honor the Constitution and especially Article 1, especially the system of checks and balances. We will not have an end-run around Congress of the United States,” Pelosi said.

Why this matters: Earlier today, the White House announced that the President would sign the compromise legislation, but will also take executive action in a bid to get the money the administration wants for border security.

Pelosi told reporters earlier that she was considering a legal challenge.

“I may,” Pelosi said when asked about the prospect of challenging Trump in court. “That’s an option and we will review our options.”

“The President is doing an end-run around Congress,” the California Democrat added.

President Trump is expected to announce that he will use executive action to draw upon a variety of administration funding sources to help finance construction of his border wall, a White House official said. 

The executive action is expected to include a national emergency declaration. 

The official confirmed the President is set to announce the total amount to be in the range of $8 billion.

The official did not specify exactly where all of that money will come from and whether the executive action would withstand a court challenge, which could come from Democrats.

The House of Representatives just approved a spending deal to avert a government shutdown.

The final vote was 300 to 128. The Senate vote, which took place earlier in the day, was 83 to 16.

The legislation will now go to the White House for President Trump’s signature. He’s expected to the sign the bill tomorrow.

Once the bill is signed into law, the entire federal government will be funded through the end of September. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to hold an enrollment ceremony after the vote.

The House will now debate the funding bill for an hour before moving on to the final vote.

After the debate is over, the House will vote on the final measure.  

One thing to note: This may happen sooner if ether party decides to give back time.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scheduled a news conference at 9:30 p.m. ET following the final vote.

President Trump intends to declare a national emergency – a move that could allow the administration to circumvent Congress and unlock money to build his signature border wall, the White House said today.   

A national emergency allows Trump to unlock certain funds provided under statutes previously passed by Congress. A draft proclamation reviewed by CNN last month cited Title 10 of the US Code, which paves the way for Trump to dip into a stash of Pentagon funds that are earmarked but have no signed contracts for spending that money. 

That would give the President authority to pull from military construction funds and civil works projects, like infrastructure repair projects. 

Trump has to notify Congress about where he decides to pull money from, but he does not need approval from Congress, according to congressional aides. 

For Trump to invoke Section 2808, specifically, the emergency would require the use of the armed forces. 

In that event, the “Secretary of Defense, without regard to any other provision of law, may undertake military construction projects, and may authorize the Secretaries of the military departments to undertake military construction projects, not otherwise authorized by law that are necessary to support such use of the armed forces.” 

Keep reading.

When Majority Leader Mitch McConnell closed up the Senate, he was asked by reporters about his call with President Trump today.

Here’s how he responded:

A White House official said the “details are done” on President Trump’s national security declaration for border security.

Those details are expected to be announced following the House vote on the spending deal, the official said.

Senior Republican senators raised various doubts about the use of a national emergency for a border wall. Others GOP lawmakers said they wanted to wait to see exactly what President Trump will declare, skeptical he will do more than use existing executive authority. 

This is what they’re saying:

Here’s a look at what GOP senators said in the past:

Leaving the Senate floor, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell side-stepped questions on his reservations about President Trump’s plans to declare a national emergency, and whether Republicans will allow this to go forward. 

McConnell didn’t answer questions about the President’s action and what it might mean for the future.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement on the possibility of President Trump issuing a national emergency on the border wall, calling the move a “lawless act.”  

“This is not an emergency, and the President’s fear-mongering doesn’t make it one,” the Democratic leaders said.

Read the full statement:

“Declaring a national emergency would be a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that President Trump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall. It is yet another demonstration of President Trump’s naked contempt for the rule of law. This is not an emergency, and the President’s fearmongering doesn’t make it one. He couldn’t convince Mexico, the American people or their elected representatives to pay for his ineffective and expensive wall, so now he’s trying an end-run around Congress in a desperate attempt to put taxpayers on the hook for it. The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities.”

The government funding and border security bill has passed the Senate overwhelmingly by a vote of 83 to16. 

What happens next: The bill now goes to the House for a final vote.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a press conference moments ago that the House may now vote earlier than planned, possibly in the 6 p.m. ET hour. 

Should the House pass the bill, the measure would then go to the White House where press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement President Trump would sign the bill along with a national emergency declaration.

The President was unhappy with the bill because it did not include the $5.7 billion that he wanted for border wall funding. The emergency declaration could allow him to free up federal funds allocated to other projects, a move Democrats will likely oppose. 

Pelosi noted in her press conference that Congress has “the power of the purse,” not the President. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was forced off of his clearly stated opposition to a national emergency in order to secure President Trump’s support of the spending bill.

That’s a huge deal: McConnell has been warning the White House publicly and the President, directly, privately that an emergency declaration was not only opposed ideologically by many Senate Republicans, but also faced a very real chance of being blocked precisely because of that.

Remember: Congress can consider a joint resolution to block any national emergency.

The House will almost certainly move one (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she “may” file a legal challenge). If McConnell and Republicans maintained their opposition, Trump’s move would be blocked.

How close was Trump to opposing this bill? Well, McConnell just gave in on an issue he’s been unbending on for weeks to secure his support.

The bottom line: McConnell knew Trump was very seriously considering not signing the bill and the Senate leader has been furious about everything the last nine weeks.

The shutdown and the fight that followed has blocked his agenda, his judicial nominations, and a working Senate. A decision was made that it was time to put an end to all of it, so he put his opposition to the emergency declaration aside.

In other words? He made a deal.

Some Republican senators are weighing in on Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency.

“Clearly I have concerns about using this declaration for this set of circumstances,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of GOP leadership. “Let’s see what he does with.” 

Sen. Rand Paul suggested it was a “bad idea”

“I generally don’t think it’s a good idea,” added Sen. Marco Rubio

All the senators said they need to see the details. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking at her weekly press conference, indicated that she may file a legal challenge if President Trump declares a national emergency. She said that if the President does so, it will be an “end run around Congress.”

Asked by a reporter is she still plans to file a legal challenge against Trump’s declaration, Pelosi responded, “Did I ever say I was filing a legal challenge? I may.”

She continued: “That’s an option and we will review our options. But it’s important to note that when the President declares this emergency, first of all it’s not an emergency what’s happening at the border — It’s a humanitarian challenge to us … putting that aside, just in terms of the President making an end-run around Congress. Here he said, let us respect what the committee will do and then walks away from it. The President is doing an end-run around Congress.”

Several Republican senators said they have no information on President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency.

Sen. John Cornyn, who has been critical of going this route, said he still harbors concerns but wants to get more information.

Sen. Pat Roberts didn’t know this was happening until CNN reporters told him.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who supports the move, said he hasn’t been told how it’ll be done.

What Graham’s talking about: Many Capitol Hill Republicans have expressed concern that declaring a national emergency in this situation would lead to a new norm. They worry about setting a precedent that future Democratic presidents could use to push a left-wing agenda item.

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s abrupt announcement Thursday that President Trump would sign the border security spending package came after a day of consternation among Republican lawmakers and administration officials about whether the President would sign the bill.

The President’s only public message was a midday tweet indicating he was still mulling the final text of the bill with his team at the White House. Even after McConnell’s announcement — which came ahead of any official word from the White House on the President’s position — the White House was scrambling to make Trump’s intentions official.

Earlier today, the President phoned GOP allies on Capitol Hill to ask their advice and vent at some of the bill’s shortcomings, leading many to believe he was backing away from his earlier support of the compromise spending legislation, according to people familiar with the calls. 

Trump told multiple allies he was considering not signing the bill.

That concern extended to the White House, where aides spent all morning trying to digest the details of the 1,100-page bill and flag potential snags both to the President and to Capitol Hill.

In briefings about the bill, the President expressed concern that something might be found buried the bill after he signed it, leading to embarrassment. He huddled with his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and legislative affairs director Shahira Knight in the Oval Office this afternoon, as they intensely lobbied the President to not back away from the bill.

Amid the wrangling, many of the President’s senior advisers stressed he should sign the package to avoid another shutdown, which they said would damage him politically.

They said signing a national emergency declaration or some other type of executive action would blunt whatever blowback he received from conservatives.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders just issued a statement confirming that President Trump will sign the bill, and “take other executive action – including a national emergency – to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border.”

Read her statement:

“President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action – including a national emergency – to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border. The President is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just said President Trump is prepared to sign the compromise funding bill into law, and the Senate is expected to begin voting soon.

One more thing to keep an eye one: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have a presser at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Most Americans (66%) are opposed to using a national emergency in order to build a border wall, but Republicans (64%) – particularly conservatives (72%) – are largely in favor of the President taking that action, according to CNN Polling released last week.

CNN POLL CONDUCTED BY SSRS
Jan. 30-Feb. 2
Should Trump Declare
Emergency to Build Wall?
Yes      31%
No       66%

The question asked: “Do you think Donald Trump should or should not declare a national emergency in order to build a wall along the border with Mexico?”

See the full results here.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking from the floor, said President Trump will sign the spending bill, but also indicated that he would be issuing a national emergency declaration.

McConnell said a vote should happen shortly.

Here’s what McConnell said:

“I’ve just had an opportunity to speak with President Trump, and he would, I would say to all my colleagues, has indicated that he’s prepared to sign the bill. He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time. And I’ve indicated to him that I’m going to prepare – I’m going to support the national emergency declaration. So for all of my colleagues, the President will sign the bill. We’ll be voting on it shortly.”

A White House official said aides are still reviewing the spending bill.

“One thousand pages filed in the in middle of the night take a little time to go through,” the aide said.

The White House is still vetting the massive spending deal that was released late Wednesday and is trying to get several questions answered, according to several Republican senators and aides.

GOP senators said they would like to get assurances that President Trump will sign the bill if it gets to his desk, possibly later today.

“We’d like to know it’s a bill the President is going to sign. Hopefully they will let us know,” said Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking GOP leader as he left a Republican conference lunch where the issue was discussed at length. 

Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, said getting sign off before a vote would “make a big difference.”

Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford said there are about four outstanding issues the White House is questioning. 

“Obviously, the White House is going through it, reading it, the same thing we are,” he said. “We just got it at midnight last night. We are just 14 hours into a 1,000 pages.” 

“Every time there is a question that comes up, they try to identify why is this in here, what does this mean, how does it affect other parts,” Lankford added,

Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, echoed those who thought it would be good to get the President’s approval before a vote.

Meanwhile, senators in both parties wait for a notification for votes on the long-stalled spending package. Even Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican in the talks, said he doesn’t know when a vote will happen. 

“We hope sometime this afternoon. The leader hasn’t told us. The earlier the better,” he said.

President Trump’s aides now say they are less certain he will sign a bipartisan spending compromise that doesn’t include the money he demanded for a border wall — a major shift from earlier this week when officials indicated privately that he would. 

As Congress prepares to vote on the measure, advisers say Trump has grown increasingly concerned about what’s contained in the 1,100-page legislation that was released late Wednesday evening.

As more details about the package have emerged, conservative figures in Trump’s orbit have voiced new displeasure at the bill. That includes Fox host Laura Ingraham, who tweeted earlier Thursday Trump should not sign it. The White House had attempted earlier this week to bolster support among Trump’s media allies.

White House officials have been digesting the text since early morning, and have briefed the President as they go along. The President tweeted midday he was “reviewing the funding bill with my team.”

These sources cautioned that the President has not made a final decision yet about signing the bill, though he will likely have to do so before the votes in the Senate and the House.

In conversations with allies over the past days, President Trump has griped that Republican negotiators were outplayed by their Democratic counterparts, securing a border funding number far smaller than Trump has spent the last two months demanding.

He has cast their dealmaking efforts as inadequate and wondered why he, an experienced deal maker, wasn’t consulted at more regular intervals as the two sides haggled over an agreement. 

To appease him, aides and some Republican lawmakers have cast the smaller figure as a down payment that will eventually lead to new wall construction. 

Initially Trump was distressed when he watched Sean Hannity and other Fox News hosts deride the plan, including as he watched recorded versions of primetime programming during a late night flight home from Texas on Monday. He spent much of the flight phoning allies to seek counsel and bemoan what he viewed as the lackluster negotiating efforts by Republicans. 

Hannity, who the President often calls late at night after his show ends, cut away from his rally in El Paso Monday night to dismiss the breakthrough as a “garbage compromise.”

But Hannity’s tone had changed markedly by the next night. 

“I’m not happy either,” Hannity said Tuesday. “Nobody should be happy. The President has every right to be angry.”

The difference in those 24 hours? A slew of phone calls from the White House to the President’s allies in the media, framing this as a win for Trump by making two points:

The President’s advisers placed the calls in the hopes Trump’s media allies would adopt a more optimistic outlook — and in turn dissuade the President from rejecting the deal and triggering another government shutdown. 

The New York Times first reported on the calls between the White House and Trump’s media allies. 

President Trump just tweeted that he’s looking over the funding bill with his team.

A White House official said aides worked through the night, reviewing the legislative text they received around midnight. The bill is 1,169 pages long.

CNN reported Wednesday morning Trump was telling people he was inclined to sign the measure. House GOP leaders also told their members on Wednesday they expected the President to sign the bill. 

But keep in mind: As everyone should be well aware by now, nothing is final until the President puts pen to paper on the bill. 

Both the Senate and the House are expected to vote today on a deal to avert a shutdown. Congressional sources expect Trump to sign it.

Here’s how this will all play out:

A White House official said aides worked through the night last night, reviewing the legislative text they received around midnight.The bill is 1,169 pages long.

The official said there are provisions in the bill that the legislative team initially disliked, but noted it is still unclear whether the White House will actually attempt to red-line any of those provisions. That would ultimately be President Trump’s decision.

Trump has not yet been briefed on the text of the bill. The official said aides will brief the President on the package later today.

Where Trump stands now: CNN reported Wednesday morning President Trump was telling people he was inclined to sign the measure. House GOP leaders told their members on Wednesday they expected the president to sign the bill. 

But remember: As everyone should be well aware by now, nothing is final until the President puts pen to paper on the bill. 

GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley added his own flair to this morning’s opening prayer on the Senate floor.

After the pastor said “amen,” Grassley, who is presiding over the Senate floor this morning in his role as president pro tempore, leaned into the mic and told the chamber:

He then led the chamber in the pledge of allegiance.

Of note: CNN’s Phil Mattingly notes he doesn’t believe he has ever heard anyone offer a post-prayer commentary on the Senate floor before. 

GOP Sen. John Cornyn says he thinks that President Trump will sign the spending bill that Congress will vote on today. He instructed the President to “declare victory and move on.”

“I think so,” Cornyn said when asked by CNN is he is confident that President Trump will sign the bill after it passes out of the House and Senate today. “And then I think he’ll issue some sort of executive order maybe on the defense authorization bill to reprogram some money. This isn’t about solving problems anymore. It’s all about face saving.”

Asked if he’s good with only 55 miles of fence, Cornyn shot back, “I am good to not shut down and to make incremental gain.”

Congress released a 1,169-page spending package at midnight last night. It includes a border security agreement as well as six remaining outstanding funding measures.

You can read all 1,169 pages here. But we broke down what’s in the border security agreement so you don’t have to.

Here’s what’s in the agreement: 

On barriers

On detention beds

On Border security funding

On humanitarian aid and detentions

On Immigration courts

On oversight

Nearly nine weeks after the government shut down, Congress has finally reached an agreement on a package that will clear the decks on spending battles — and shutdown deadlines — until the end of September.

Thee full 1,169-page spending package — which is comprised not just of the border security agreement, but also the six remaining outstanding funding measures — is now public and ready to be voted on.

What happens now: House and Senate leaders believe they have plan to get that done in short order. The Senate and House plan to pass the border security and broad spending package by Thursday night. That much, according to aides and both parties, in both chambers, is virtually assured at this point.

But remember, this all comes down to Trump: The question remains will President Trump sign the deal, which, at least on Capitol Hill, everyone is working under the assumption he will. (On Tuesday, sources said he intends to.)

But as everyone should be well aware by now, nothing is final until the President puts pen to paper on the bill. 

President Trump, speaking at a law enforcement conference Wednesday, briefly touched on border security negotiations with Congress, pledging that he “will never waver” from his “sacred duty” to protect the US.

“As we review the new proposal from Congress, I can promise you this. I will never waver from my sacred duty to defend this nation and its people. We will get the job done,” Trump said.

“The wall is very, very— on its way. It’s happening, as we speak. We’re building as we speak,” he added.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump told reporters he would “take a very serious look” at the legislation and noted that he does not want another government shutdown.

Staff is still drafting the final pieces of the 1,000-plus page spending bill, but the process is moving along and should be completed in the next few hours, according to multiple aides involved in the process.

The final draft of the Department of Homeland Security funding piece has been completed. (Both sides are currently reviewing it.)

Outside the spending talks, negotiators are still also talking about two issues:

An extension for the Violence Against Women Act, which expires Friday night. Language to approve backpay from the 35-day shutdown for federal contractors. 

Democrats are attempting to keep the VAWA extension out of the deal so they can work on a broader overhaul to the law separately. Republicans want a clean extension.

A key note: Neither issue is threatening to broader bill, aides say, but both are still being discussed. 

At this point, a clean VAWA extension is expected to be included, the federal contractor backpay is not, two sources said, though they emphasized things are fluid.

The White House says President Trump is continuing to weigh his options to fund a border wall, which still include taking executive action to secure funding for a wall.

It’s not clear which combination of actions the President might use, and the topic has been under debate for weeks. Not all would require declaring a national emergency, and they are likely to be rolled out piece by piece, not necessarily all at once, once Trump signs off.

The President has held nearly daily meetings with senior advisers and others to discuss his options.

Based on CNN’s latest reporting, the President’s unilateral options include:

A tentative border security deal has been agreed to on Capitol Hill, but there is still more work to be done in Washington before a partial government shutdown can be averted – and there are plenty of opportunities along the way for a deal to be derailed.

This is what needs to happen now:

President Trump said he doesn’t want to have another shutdown and that he will take a “serious look” at the border deal that’s on the table.

CNN reported earlier today that President Trump intends to sign the border security deal to avoid another partial government shutdown, according to two sources who have spoken with him directly.

The deal includes $1.375 billion for a border barrier, which falls well short of the $5.7 billion Trump originally demanded for a wall.

GOP Rep. Chris Stewart told CNN this morning that he’s optimistic about the new border security deal, however the government shutdown “didn’t help.”

Watch:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters she’s urging people not to judge the bill for what it lacks.

“As with all compromises, I say to people support the bill for what is in it, don’t judge it for what is not in it.”

Asked if she has confidence it will pass the House, she replied: “Hope so.”

She said the deal is a “win for the American people” and she had confidence the conferees would get the job done.

The House plans to vote tomorrow night on the spending deal, according to a source at the Democratic caucus meeting.

Before heading into the weekly Democratic Caucus meeting, various lawmakers weighed in on the border security bill.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas had strong words for President Trump if his course of action is to sign the border security bill proposed by Congress and then use emergency funds to create the border wall he initially wanted, as has been rumored.

“At that time we will address whether or not his actions are legal,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who serves on both the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees.

Asked what she wished were in the bill, Rep. Jackson Lee said she wanted more housing for mothers and children, and medical facilities.

Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada called the border security bill “a compromise.”

Asked what she would liked to see changed in the bill, Rep. Lee said, “I’d actually like to see we got more” in terms of protections for dreamers. 

Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee said he thinks the President will sign the bill “and then he’ll do his tricks.”

Rep. Debbie Murcassel-Powell of Florida was not sure what the President will do. 

Rep. Harley Rouda of California was happy with what he saw in the bill and believes it will pass.

The legislative text has not been completed yet on the deal to avoid a government shutdown, according to a Democratic aide involved in the negotiations.

 At this point — and things are fluid — they expect it early evening at the earliest.

Behind the scenes, the White House has been planning to secure the funds for the wall unilaterally.

The White House says Trump is continuing to weigh his options to fund a border wall, which still include taking executive action to secure funding for a wall. It’s not clear which combination of actions the President might use, and the topic has been under debate for weeks.

Not all would require declaring a national emergency, and they are likely to be rolled out piece by piece, not necessarily all at once, once Trump signs off.

Here are his options:

Read more about what these mean here.

President Trump intends to sign the border security deal to avoid another partial government shutdown, according to two sources who have spoken directly with the President.

It includes $1.375 billion for a border barrier, which falls well short of the $5.7 billion Trump originally demanded for a wall.

However, the deal isn’t done until ink is on paper – and the Friday deadline is looming.

A senior GOP aide involved in the spending talks was just asked about the President’s comments.

“It’s not like there’s a Plan B right now,” the aide said.

The aide said there was some expectation the President would vent about the deal and noted he didn’t say he wouldn’t sign the agreement.

Keep in mind: The desire to avoid a shutdown, at least at this moment, appears much stronger than any other factor for members and the expectation is that will win out.

CNN’s Manu Raju and Lauren Fox contributed reporting 

President Trump said he wouldn’t be the first if he decides to declare a national emergency to secure border wall funding:

“You know, we already have national emergencies out there. you know President Obama, President Clinton, President Bush they’ve declared many national … this is not unique. They’ve declared many national emergences. Many many. And you have some out there that you have some out there that we can use in addition to one that we can declare if we want to do it.”

President Trump, speaking to reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, said he doesn’t expect another shutdown.

He added, however, if there is one, it’s the “Democrats’ fault.”

Congressional negotiators say they have reached an agreement in principle to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of this week.

It’s unclear if Trump will sign the deal.

President Trump, answering a reporter’s question if he’d sign the newly reached border deal, said he wasn’t happy with it.

“I’m not happy about it, it’s not enough, it’s not doing the trick,” Trump said, before adding he would add “things to it,” though didn’t specify what.

“I can tell you that, am I happy, at first glance? I just got to see it. The answer is no, I’m not. I’m not happy,” he said.

Multiple people involved with the deal reached last night said it’s likely the bill won’t be posted publicly until Wednesday.

Why that matters: That would put lawmakers right up against the deadline, given the 72-hour rule in the House (which calls for the text of a bill to be public for 72 hours before the House votes on it). Lawmakers have until Friday to pass a deal to fund the government — and President Trump must sign it.

Keep in mind: When there’s a deal, lawmakers are far more willing to consider a continuing resolution for a day or two to allow for the Congressional procedural machinations to work out, but lawmakers still want to try and get it all wrapped up by Friday. 

With all that said, this all comes down to Trump: There will be a lot that happens in the next few days between the legislation actually posting, leadership working to get their members and votes in line and powerful outside groups on both sides weighting in for or against the deal. But the only thing that really matters right now is how President Trump comes down on the deal. So far, he hasn’t said where he stands.

President Trump is continuing to weigh his options after congressional negotiators presented an agreement with only $1.375 billion in border barrier funds.

White House officials have a roster of options they have been weighing that would employ the President’s executive authority to secure money for a border wall. Not all would require declaring a national emergency.

Those options include…

Accessing Treasury forfeiture funds

Using USC 284 to divert some Pentagon funds for counter-narcotics

Using USC 2808 to gain access to military construction funds

 Using Army Corps civil works funds under USC 2293

It’s not clear which combination of these actions the President might use, and the topic has been under debate for weeks. The President has held nearly daily meetings with senior advisers and others to discuss his options.

The estimates for how much each option could garner have also been under debate. =

Democratic senators Joe Manchin and Doug Jones said they are optimistic about the agreement.

 “We need to get this thing done,” Jones told reporters this morning.

Jones called another shutdown “devastating” and should not be on the table. He added that he’s “real optimistic” about this new deal.

CNN then asked about the possibility that Trump could take executive action.

Right after Jones spoke to reporters, Senator Manchin popped out and said he thinks Trump should sign the funding bill.     

He chuckled when asked about the potential that Trump could use money from other places to build his wall.

“As a former governor, we always look for extra money. That doesn’t bother me a whole lot.” Manchin said.

In their opening floor remarks Tuesday, top Senate leaders were upbeat — but still cautious — about the “tentative deal” or “agreement in principle,” as they described it, that was reached by negotiators late Monday to fund more border security and prevent a government shutdown. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer repeatedly urged President Trump to sign the bill, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made no mention of the President and only said he hopes to move it through the Senate in “short order.”

McConnell noted that in order to get the deal, Democrats backed off their “extreme position” on detention beds and he praised the proposal because it would fund “miles of new border barriers.”

“It provides new funds for miles of new border barriers. And it completes all seven outstanding appropriations bills, so Congress can complete a funding process for all the outstanding parts of the federal government with predictability and certainty,” McConnell said. “As we speak, our colleagues are working hard to produce full legislative text. I look forward to reviewing the full text as soon as possible and hope the Senate can act on this legislation in short order.”

Meanwhile, Schumer said “months of shutdown politics must come to an end” with this agreement. 

 “We now have a bipartisan proposal to accomplish our goals to better secure the border and avoid another senseless government shutdown. I don’t know the details, but the parameters are good,” Schumer said. “We must not have a rerun of what happened a few months back where legislators, Democrats and Republicans, House and Senate, agreed and President Trump pulled the rug out from under the agreement and caused a shutdown.”

Several Republican senators said they would like Trump to get behind spending deal — a sign he may not have much support in the Senate if he were to veto it.

Sen. Johnny Isakson said said President is “in a box.”

“I hope we have this behind us,” he said.

Asked if the GOP should accept a deal, Isakson added: “Shutdowns are bad, period.”

Sen. Lamar Alexander, a close ally to majority leader Mitch McConnell, said he hopes the deal is something the President can accept and sign into law.

And Sen. Susan Collins said that “absolutely” Trump should sign it. She renewed her concern about declaring a national emergency, saying there’s no grounds for doing so.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said President Trump must take the deal negotiators struck last night.

Here’s how he put it:

“He would be out of his mind and irresponsible. I think the President has no choice. If he is the least bit sane and responsible. In fact he should thank the Congress for taking the lead. The President ought to lead or get out of the way and enable this country to move forward with everything that’s so important,” he said.

CNN also asked about the possibility that Trump could take executive action.

“If the President illegally seizes power to reallocate money, he is violating the constitution and his oath of office and the Congress should act accordingly,” Blumenthal said.

Where President Trump stands on the deal is still TBD. White House officials are currently digesting details of the agreement, according to an official, and they are not yet signaling their support.

But here’s one warning sign: Two of President Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill — Reps. Mark Meadows, of North Carolina, and Jim Jordan, of Ohio — are already out trashing the agreement. 

Here’s what they said about it:

Remember: Meadows, the Freedom Caucus chair, and Jordan, his close ally and one of the leaders of the group, were never going to vote for a spending deal. They just weren’t. Neither will most, if not all, of their colleagues in the Freedom Caucus.

But they still can sway the President: The real power of both is their relationship with President Trump. Meadows talks to Trump constantly – and made clear in December, before the shutdown, Trump should stand his ground and fight. The ability to convince the President to oppose an agreement is a real concern among Republicans who do plan to support the deal.

Also notable: The Fox News host Sean Hannity, who frequently talks with the President (and to him on his show) told viewers last night that “any Republican that supports this garbage compromise, you will have to explain.” Charlie Sykes called it “the Hannity veto…”

Trump is not yet endorsing the deal: “A lot of things have changed, and we’ll see what happens,” he told Laura Ingraham in an interview right before last night’s rally.

Additional reporting from CNN’s Brian Stelter.

More details of the deal are being circulated internally by GOP staff on the Senate Appropriations committee, and a GOP source laid out some of the top lines:

On US Immigration and Customs Enforcement:

On Trump’s wall:

Neither party got everything they wanted. President Trump got far less than he demanded. But there is an agreement. And with an agreement comes legislation, and with that legislation comes an opportunity to step off the spending roller coaster of the last eight weeks. . 

What happens now: The staff needs to draft the agreement and the legislation needs to be posted publicly. 

Then leadership on both sides of the aisle then needs to start counting votes and move it to the floor. The House will likely go first, followed by the Senate. And someone needs to figure out where President Trump is on all of this.  

To make this abundantly clear: There will be a lot that happens in the next few days between the legislation actually posting, leadership working to get their members and votes in line and powerful outside groups on both sides weighting in for or against the deal. But the only thing that really matters right now is how President Trump comes down on the deal. 

Congressional negotiators say they have reached an agreement in principle to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of this week.

We don’t know a lot about it: The four lead bipartisan negotiators, emerging from talks Monday night, declined to get into details on how the agreement was struck or the exact parameters of a deal, but when asked whether it included barrier funding and a resolution to the detention bed issue, Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby said:

And remember: What President Trump will be willing to accept has remained a wild card hanging over the negotiations. Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have long signaled that they could reach a deal if left to their own devices, but questions over what the President will accept have continued to inject uncertainty into the process.

A White House official says they are keeping their options open right now, including Trump using his executive powers to reallocate federal funds from elsewhere for the wall, but are looking at the agreement now.

A conservative House member familiar with the caucus’ thinking laid out what President Trump’s next move on border security could be.

The President, according to this source, will likely accept the fact that Congress will never be serious about construction of a border wall and he will accept the conference committee’s report to keep the government open. 

However, he will then immediately use executive action to start other border barrier construction. 

This all means four things will happen, according to the source:

The White House is still going through the border security agreement this morning, a White House official said.

They are likely waiting for Trump to tweet or comment during today’s Cabinet meeting, — because no one wants to get ahead of the President.

The official said no options are being ruled out, including executive action or and emergency declaration being signed in conjunction with signing a deal that averts a shutdown.

As the four lead negotiators came out of their meeting tonight to announce a deal in principle had been reached, the White House appeared to take a wait and see attitude on the agreement. 

At an immigration rally in El Paso, Texas, President Trump said his aides were about to brief him on the progress moments before he was going on stage.

He told the crowd he chose to come out and speak to them instead: “Wait a minute I gotta take care of my people from Texas,” he said. “I don’t want to hear about it. So I don’t know what they mean when they say progress has been made.”  

Sources have told CNN that the deal would include $1.375 billion dollars for barrier funding that will cover roughly 55 miles of new barrier – in the Rio Grande Valley, which had been a priority for the White House, and one of the Border Patrol’s highest priorities listed in its strategic plan. The 55 new miles represents double the amount of new miles provided in FY18 agreement. 

The $1.375 billion figure is just slightly above the current funding level of $1.3 billion, and is less than a $1.6 billion Senate measure the President rejected last year. It’s also less than the $2.5 billion proposal floated by Vice President Pence that was rebuffed by Democrats and later by Trump himself.

The detention beds technically continue at their current funding level – 40,520, which ICE has surpassed by finding new money to use.

A congressional source also tells Manu Raju that the deal includes: 

White House aides are still digesting details of the agreement, according to an official. They are not yet signaling their support, and President Trump will need to weigh in. 

The official says at this hour, nothing is being ruled out — be it signing this new agreement, declaring a national emergency, or securing wall funding elsewhere. 

Already some Trump allies are expressing skepticism at the deal, meaning the White House wants to take time to see what exactly is in it before weighing in. 

FOX News Host Sean Hannity, who the president is known to listen to, said on his show Monday night that, “Any Republican who supports this garbage compromise — you will have to explain.” 

White House officials have mulled one additional idea in recent days, depending on what congressional negotiators came up with: Taking the deal that the committee comes to – depending on what’s in it – but also using other federal funds to build additional barriers. 

A White House official says they are keeping their options open right now, including Trump using his executive powers to reallocate federal funds from elsewhere for the wall, but are looking at the agreement now. 

As Mick Mulvaney noted on NBC yesterday, he has been “combing through the law” and trying to find additional funds. White House officials believe this is an option even if the president signs the deal to avoid another government shutdown.  

Just hours ago they were told these talks were stalled, but that wasn’t a huge concern to WH officials, who for days have been continuing discussions about declaring a national emergency. 

The details are slowly trickling out – but here’s what we hear has been agreed to:

All four lead negotiators – Senators Shelby and Leahy, Reps. Lowey and Granger – emerged to announce the agreement.

The four declined to get into details on how the agreement was struck, but when asked whether it included barrier funding and a resolution to the detention bed issue, Shelby says: “we got an agreement on all of it.”

Does the White House support the agreement?

Shelby: “We think so. We hope so.”

The staff will now work on drafting the agreement into actual legislation, at which point they will release the details.

The deal includes all seven outstanding appropriations measures. Disaster aid will not be included in the deal and will be handled separately. 

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. 

President Trump alluded to a standoff over ICE detention beds on Monday, alleging Democrats were resisting efforts to keep criminal undocumented immigrations in custody.

“The Democrats want them to go into our country. That’s why they don’t want to give us what we call the beds. It’s much more complicated than beds. But we call them the beds,” Trump said during a meet-and-greet with sheriffs at the White House.

“We need a wall. All the other things are nice to have. But without a wall it’s not going to work,” Trump said later, saying technology like drones wouldn’t be sufficient in securing the border.

Trump said Democrats were only digging in in their resistance to border security funding in their demands on the detention beds.

“Now it turns out not only don’t they want to give us money for the wall, they don’t want to give us space to detain murderers, criminals, drug dealers, human smugglers,” he said.

Asked Monday whether there would be another government shutdown at the end of this week, President Trump shifted responsibility to the Democrats.

“That’s up to the Democrats,” Trump replied before leaving for a campaign rally in Texas.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just left the Senate floor after bluntly blaming House Democrats for the stalled talks.

While on the floor, McConnell had railed about the “poison pill” demand from Democrats over limits on ICE detention beds, accusing them of risking a second government shutdown.

“As recently as a few days ago, our government funding discussions seemed to be in a pretty good place,” McConnell said, calling the proposed detention bed cap “a get-out-of-jail-free card for criminals.”

On his way out, McConnell declined to answer questions on the likelihood of another government shutdown and questions on whether he was opposed to a continuing resolution.

If Congress cannot reach a deal by Friday night, the government will shut down again for the second time since December.

The last one left some federal workers furloughed for 35 days, the longest shutdown in US history.

Are you preparing for a possible government shutdown (again)? Tell us here.

President Trump is expected to hold a meeting in the Oval Office this afternoon, according to an administration official, to talk wall funding and discuss a response to Democrats now demanding a limit on the detention of illegal immigrants, which CNN’s Capitol Hill team has reported has stalled border security funding talks.

This meeting was scheduled for 1:45 p.m. ET but is being pushed back slightly because Trump’s schedule is running late. Republican lawmakers are not expected to attend this meeting right now — it’s just internal folks. 

This is going to be a meeting that’s broad in scope. It’s not surprising because there have been meetings like this essentially every day since December. It’s also not expected to last too long, since the President is headed for El Paso at 3:30 p.m. ET. 

The top negotiators from each party on the conference committee are expected to meet on Monday in what could be a final push to try and overcome the current impasse reach a deal in the border security talks, according to two sources familiar with the planning.

The top Republicans on the House and Senate Appropriations panels, along with their Democratic counterparts, are planning to meet just a day after the talks between the two sides completely broke down over disputes on funding for detention beds and border barriers.

Some more about the shutdown timeline: In order to get something done by the Friday deadline, House Democrats will likely have to post something Monday or Tuesday (Reminder: the chamber has a 72-hour rule).

As is always the case, Congress can move quite quickly when it wants to, but at this point there’s zero agreement about a backstop or alternative plan between the two parties and chambers. Conference negotiators basically have until the end of Monday to figure something out, aides in both parties say. Then it’s on to finding a Plan B (or C or D, etc., etc.). 

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy on Sunday said Democrats would compromise on border security, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper “of course we’re willing to put more money into border security.”

“Well, you know, the budget bill that we passed in the Senate through committee last year provided for $1.6 billion in new border security money and of course members of the Senate voted in the past for border security money including barrier funding. I think the problem now is that we’ve only got about 7 months left on the fiscal year. So I don’t think the President can actually spend much more than $2 billion,” he said.

“I’ll be interested to see what the compromise looks like before I commit to voting for or against it,” Murphy added.

It’s now days before another government shutdown — and this is the day bipartisan negotiators were supposed to announce a deal to avert just that. 

Instead, there are no clear answers as to how, or if, another can be avoided. 

Bottom line: There is no agreement on the path forward on the conference committee. There is no agreement on what, if any, alternatives could pass both chambers and be signed by the President if the conference committee fails. Monday is a crucial day as lawmakers try and figure a way out of another mess, all as the clock ticks away. At this point, each day leading into the February 15 deadline is enormously consequential. 

Something needs to happen soon: In order to get a deal passed and signed by the Friday deadline, House Democrats will likely have to post something Monday or Tuesday (Why is that? The chamber has a 72-hour rule.)

As is always the case, Congress can move quite quickly when it wants to, but at this point there’s zero agreement about a backstop or alternative plan between the two parties and chambers. Conference negotiators basically have until the end of Monday to figure something out, aides in both parties say. Then it’s on to finding a Plan B (or C or D, etc., etc.). 

Border security negotiations, for days considered on the path to a weekend agreement, have not progressed, and members on both sides have started to discuss whether backstop alternatives to prevent another government shutdown are necessary, three sources involved told CNN.

Two of the sources said the talks were ongoing and had not completely fallen apart, but both sides of the talks were considering whether there was a path forward to a broader deal.

The outstanding issues — the level of funding for border barriers as well as funding increases for detention facilities and personnel — were not new and have long been the sticking points in the talks. But negotiators on both sides told reporters late last week that they believed they were on the path to resolving the issues.

Read more here.