Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a key player in the border negotiations, sounded upbeat about the bipartisan compromise brokered Monday night, calling it “certainly good news.”
“I know I speak for members on both sides of the aisle when I say we are grateful to our colleagues on the appropriations committee for their leadership,” McConnell said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “We’re eager to see them complete this work.”
“As we speak, our colleagues are working hard to produce a legislative text,” he continued. “I look forward to reviewing the full text as soon as possible and hope the Senate can act on this legislation in short order.”
McConnell sounds optimistic on the bipartisan border negotiations pic.twitter.com/XKI314j41B
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 12, 2019
McConnell saying that he hopes the Senate can act on the legislation is significant: during the shutdown, he refused to bring legislation to the floor unless Trump would definitely sign it.
It is unclear if President Donald Trump will accept the new deal or not. He was coy Monday night when talking to Fox News host Laura Ingraham, saying “we’ll see what happens.”
The bill would allot about $1.4 billion for border wall construction, far less that the $5.7 billion Trump previously demanded.
The figures who usually have the biggest influence on the President’s thinking are split.
The Fox and Friends hosts cheered the deal as a win for Trump Tuesday morning, saying that after all, Democrats didn’t even want “one mile” of the wall to be built. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Fox News’ Sean Hannity had dimmer views of the agreement, Meadows calling it “lacking” and Hannity labeling it “garbage.”
