WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump urged reluctant GOP lawmakers on Thursday to swing behind a split-the-differences bipartisan budget and debt deal between his administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Trump tweeted on that “House Republicans should support the TWO YEAR BUDGET AGREEMENT which greatly helps our Military and our Vets.” He added in a note of encouragement, “I am totally with you!”
Trump’s comments come ahead of a scheduled afternoon House vote on the two-year deal that would head off another government shutdown, permit the Treasury to borrow freely to pay the government’s bills, and lock in place hard-won budget gains for both the Pentagon and domestic agencies.
The agreement outlines a $1.37 trillion cap for the so-called discretionary accounts funded by Congress each year that permits Capitol Hill’s appropriations barons to get serious about advancing follow-up spending bills for the 2020 budget year beginning in October.
But it contains no new steps to curb spending elsewhere in the budget, rankling conservatives and lawmakers alarmed by the return of $1 trillion-plus budget deficits.