Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Donald Trump has indicated that he will sign a funding measure to keep the government open, and then declare a national emergency to redirect funding to build a wall at the United States’ southern border, according to multiple media reports.
The Associated Press reports that both the US House and Senate are expected to pass a spending measure that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year and avoid another shutdown, but that does not include the $5.7 billion that Trump wanted for the wall.
That funding was at the heart of an impasse in late December that led to the longest-ever federal government shutdown.
By declaring a national emergency, Trump could redirect Defense Department, military and other funding to border security, which could include wall construction funding.
