Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made a decisive move Tuesday, saying that he hopes President Donald Trump will “decide to sign” the compromise border deal brokered by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
“I think Chairman Shelby and the Democrats on a bipartisan basis did a good job,” McConnell said Tuesday afternoon. “From a Republican point of view, there is money for new barrier fencing and no cap on internal enforcement.”
“It’s not everything the President hoped to get, but I think it’s a good step in the right direction. I hope he’ll decide to sign it” he continued. “We’re all quite interested in that, as you can imagine.”
The legislation would allot about $1.4 billion for border fencing, far less than the $5.7 billion Trump wanted for a wall.
McConnell sending Trump a clear signal is significant, as the Senate leader refused to let any legislation onto the Senate floor during the shutdown without a guarantee that Trump would sign it.
That being said, McConnell has a notorious hatred of shutdowns and has been eager to see a solution from the bipartisan group.
Watch here via ABC News:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on tentative deal to avert a second government shutdown: “It’s not everything the president hoped to get, but I think it’s a good step in the right direction. I hope he’ll decide to sign it” https://t.co/Rt0gblZLqe pic.twitter.com/rubotQcur0
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 12, 2019