Trump Willing to Hold Off on Border-Wall Funding
April 25 2017 - 6:03PM
Dow Jones News
By Kristina Peterson and Rebecca Ballhaus
WASHINGTON -- With President Donald Trump now willing to wait on
money to fund a border wall, lawmakers on Capitol Hill edged closer
Tuesday to a deal to prevent a government shutdown but were still
slogging through a raft of unresolved issues.
The biggest lingering question now is whether the spending bill,
which is needed to keep the government running after its current
funding expires at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, will include payments
established by the Affordable Care Act to help insurers offset the
cost of subsidies for low-income customers.
While few lawmakers from either party favor letting the payments
lapse, which could potentially trigger the collapse of health plans
midyear, both GOP leaders and Mr. Trump would prefer that the other
take responsibility for them.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) has said that the
administration should continue making the payments. Mr. Trump,
meanwhile, told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that he
believed Congress would have to make the decision on whether to set
aside money for the payments and that if it didn't, he might
consider cutting them off.
Democrats, whose votes will be needed to pass the spending bill,
have said the legislation should include money for the
"cost-sharing" payments, which reimburse insurers for subsidies
that lower the cost of deductibles, copayments and coinsurance for
about six million people who obtain insurance on the ACA's
exchanges.
"We want to prevent the Trump administration and Republicans
from defunding health care," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
(D., N.Y.) told reporters Tuesday. But he declined to say whether
Democrats would oppose the spending bill if the payments were
excluded.
The challenge for GOP leaders is that many House Republicans
could balk at voting for funds aimed at shoring up the ACA at a
time when their legislation to replace most of the law has
foundered. House GOP leaders were forced to pull their bill
overhauling the law last month when it became clear it didn't have
the votes to pass.
"There's obviously a lot of people who have strong opinions
about that in the House, given what we're trying to do with
Obamacare. So, my guess is that it doesn't end up getting addressed
in this bill," Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, a member of Senate
GOP leadership, said of the insurance payments.
Lawmakers are also still negotiating whether the spending bill
should include health-care and pension benefits for retired coal
miners and their dependents, an issue that nearly derailed a
government funding measure in December. That bill extended
health-care benefits until April 30 for more than 22,000 retired
coal miners and dependents, according to the United Mine Workers of
America.
Now, lawmakers are wrangling over whether to extend that funding
permanently or on a more-limited basis and whether to address
pensions for retired miners and their widows, which are at risk of
running out by 2022. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.,
Ky.) said on Tuesday that he favored a "permanent fix" for miners'
health care. House GOP leaders prefer a shorter-term solution,
according to aides involved in the discussions.
The issue arises because of a decades-old federal promise of
lifetime pensions and retiree health benefits to the United Mine
Workers of America. Several lawmakers in states with affected
miners, including West Virginia Sens. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, and
Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, oppose another short-term fix
because of the stress they say it puts on the miners and their
families.
Neither the ACA payments nor the miners' health-care benefits
appeared likely to set up a partisan showdown that could trigger a
partial government shutdown on Saturday.
Lawmakers said the path to a deal became easier after Mr. Trump
dropped his demand that the legislation include money for a wall
along the border with Mexico, a stance that emerged Monday night.
Mr. Trump is now saying that he would be willing to seek funding
for the border wall later in the year.
The five-month spending bill is expected to include additional
funding for the military and border security, according to
lawmakers and aides. Those provisions are less controversial than
the border wall, even among Republicans.
"Obviously we need better border security, but I've not been a
fan of a 2,000-mile wall," said Sen. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.)
Mr. Trump said Tuesday that he was confident that the wall would
be built and indicated some flexibility on timing.
"The wall's going to get built, folks," Mr. Trump told
reporters. "We have plenty of time."
--Louise Radnofsky contributed to this article.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and
Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 25, 2017 17:48 ET (21:48 GMT)
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