The Latest on the Looming U.S. Government Shutdown

• January 17 2018

Temporary government funding runs out Jan. 19 and the House and Senate are heading toward a temporary extension. Democrats are demanding that spending legislation include a provision permanently shielding about 690,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U…

Temporary government funding runs out Jan. 19 and the House and Senate are heading toward a temporary extension. Democrats are demanding that spending legislation include a provision permanently shielding about 690,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation.

Here are the latest developments, updated throughout the day (all times local):

Trump Supports House GOP Stopgap Funding Plan (3:00 p.m.)

President Donald Trump will support the House leadership plan for temporary funding, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, giving Speaker Paul Ryan some additional political clout as he tries to bring reluctant conservatives on board.

House Republican leaders are pressing ahead with a plan to avoid a shutdown by temporarily funding the government for four more weeks but shutting out Democrats and their demands for a deal on immigration.

“The president certainly doesn’t want a shutdown,” Sanders told reporters at the White House. Democrats will be to blame if it happens, she added.

Current government funding runs out at the end of the day on Friday.

Republicans are at least nine votes shy of the 60 needed in the Senate to advance a bill. Ryan is gambling that enough Democrats in the Senate are concerned about how a shutdown would look to voters as their campaigns get under way in a few months.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will take up the House plan.

However, some Republicans are raising flags on going forward. Republican Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said he is a “no” vote on the temporary funding and said leadership still is short of having the votes to pass it with only Republican support.

“My understanding is they are going to put it on the floor tomorrow and dare the members of their own party to vote against it,” Meadows said. He said he’s seeking assurances on future steps on immigration and spending caps in exchange for his vote.

The White House is making a direct appeal to Freedom Caucus members to vote for the funding measure.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly met with top Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday to resume immigration talks after days of sniping over vulgar remarks attributed to the president about African nations and other countries in a Jan. 11 Oval Office meeting. Republicans said there was progress but not enough for a deal this week. -- Erik Wasson, Anna Edgerton and Laura Litvan

Here’s What Happened on Tuesday:

• House leaders laid out their plan to keep government operations funded until Feb. 16, giving lawmakers more time to work out agreements on raising budget caps, increasing the federal debt ceiling and, potentially, immigration. It would extend the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years, and delay unpopular taxes on high-end health insurance and medical devices for two years while putting off a tax on health insurance providers by one year. Leaders may tweak the plan more to win over a handful of conservative holdouts pushing for more military spending by including a pay raise for service members.
• Senators leading bipartisan talks on an immigration plan will introduce a measure Wednesday that reflects ideas rejected by Trump last Thursday in the Oval Office. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina argue their plan offers the best path that could break the impasse on the issue and help drive a deal for a broader spending deal.

— With assistance by Laurie Asseo, Laura Litvan, Erik Wasson, Anna Edgerton, and Toluse Olorunnipa