By Kristina Peterson and Rebecca Ballhaus 

WASHINGTON -- The White House signaled on Tuesday it wanted to avoid a partial government shutdown this weekend, even if Congress doesn't meet President Trump's full demands on border security, but partisan divisions stymied new negotiations, prompting Senate Republican leaders to start readying a short-term spending deal to keep the government running.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) said Tuesday night he was preparing a short-term spending bill keeping the government open until early February.

"Barring some unforeseen development, I think that's where we're headed, " Mr. Shelby said.

Mr. Trump hasn't indicated if he would sign a short-term measure, which would continue funding for border security but not for a wall, but Mr. Shelby said Tuesday night he assumed Mr. Trump would. Last week, Mr. Trump said publicly he would be "proud" to shut down the government if lawmakers don't include $5 billion in funding for a Mexico border wall in their spending package.

Senate Democrats earlier Tuesday signaled an openness to a short-term extension, which often becomes more appealing to lawmakers as spending deadlines approach and they become eager to return home for the holidays. "We'd certainly very seriously look at it," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said.

Negotiations had accelerated Tuesday after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that Mr. Trump didn't want a shutdown and the administration could find "other ways" to obtain the wall funding amid continued Democratic opposition.

In an interview with Fox News, Ms. Sanders indicated Mr. Trump could support a bipartisan Senate bill funding the Homeland Security Department, which oversees the border, if other funding were diverted to the wall. That bill includes $1.6 billion for border security, including fencing and new technology, but wouldn't permit the construction of a concrete wall.

Asked about the possibility of a government shutdown Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Trump said: "We'll see what happens." He declined to answer a question about whether he would insist a spending bill include funding for a wall, saying: "We need border security."

The White House's softer tone comes as the Republican president faces diminished leverage to wrest money for border security from a Congress whose chambers will be evenly divided between the Republican and Democratic parties starting in January.

Mr. Trump has made building the wall a central rallying cry of his presidency, and in recent weeks, his campaign has sent fundraising pleas highlighting his fight with Democrats on this issue.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said he was convinced there wouldn't be a shutdown.

Late Tuesday morning, Mr. McConnell, after consulting with the White House, made a new offer to Senate Democrats that included the $1.6 billion for border security, plus a roughly $1 billion fund for Mr. Trump to use for his immigration agenda.

Mr. Schumer, after calling Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, said he rejected the offer due to concerns over the "slush fund" for Mr. Trump's immigration proposals.

"I think that the White House has backed off the wall and that terminology, but what they might want to do with that billion dollars is problematic," Mrs. Pelosi said.

Mr. McConnell said he was "now in consultations with the White House about the way forward," including what Mr. Trump would be willing to sign.

Democrats said the administration's latest stance signaled Mr. Trump's desire to avoid a partial shutdown when seven spending bills expire at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, and a recognition that Democrats won't agree to wall funding.

"They're looking for a solution and an exit," Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said of the White House.

Senate leaders didn't indicate that negotiations over the package of new fiscal 2019 spending bills had ended, leaving open the possibility they could be reignited. But with no new deal from the fresh round of negotiations Tuesday, many Senate Republicans predicted Congress would end up passing a short-term extension of current funding into early 2019, when Democrats take back control of the House.

"If we want to keep government open, it probably looks like some kind of continuing resolution that gets us through the early part of next year," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "I think a number of people have expressed that, at this point, it might be the only route forward."

Earlier Tuesday, Mr. Shelby had said a stopgap fix was more likely after Democrats rejected the latest GOP offer.

"Continuing resolutions...they're looming in the background, maybe over our shoulder, but we're not quite there yet," Mr. Shelby said. "There's still hope, maybe not as much as it was a couple of hours ago, but maybe a little bit."

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans emphasized how a new spending deadline in early 2019 might interfere with the plans of House Democrats and Mrs. Pelosi, who is expected to be elected speaker on Jan. 3. "If I were in her shoes, I would rather not be dealing with this year's business next year," Mr. McConnell said.

Mrs. Pelosi has said the House next year would quickly pass the six less controversial fiscal 2019 spending bills and extend current funding for Homeland Security, sending it back to the Senate.

Democrats rejected the idea that the White House could shift money around from the defense budget or elsewhere to fund the wall. "They need congressional approval. They're not getting it for the wall," Mr. Schumer said.

--Joshua Jamerson 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

December 18, 2018 20:38 ET (01:38 GMT)