House Republicans eye a budget funding extension, but a 'Dreamer' deal won't be a part of it

House Republicans considered on Tuesday a stopgap bill to fund the U.S. government through Feb. 16 to avert a shutdown, but the measure would not include Democrats' demands for protections for young people brought to the United States illegally as children.

Partisan finger-pointing over immigration policy on Tuesday left Congress and the White House stumbling closer to a possible federal government shutdown by the end of the week.

Republicans who control Congress are expected to try to push another stopgap funding bill and get it to President Donald Trump's desk before a midnight Friday deadline when existing money for federal agencies expires.

The bill would not include protections for the young people described as "Dreamers," Republican Representative Mike Simpson told reporters after his party's closed-door meeting.


[House Republicans have a way to avoid a government shutdown, but there's a catch]
House Republicans have a way to avoid a government shutdown, but there's a catch  1 Hour Ago | 00:41House Republicans considered on Tuesday a stopgap bill to fund the U.S. government through Feb. 16 to avert a shutdown, but the measure would not include Democrats' demands for protections for young people brought to the United States illegally as children.

Partisan finger-pointing over immigration policy on Tuesday left Congress and the White House stumbling closer to a possible federal government shutdown by the end of the week.

Republicans who control Congress are expected to try to push another stopgap funding bill and get it to President Donald Trump's desk before a midnight Friday deadline when existing money for federal agencies expires.

The bill would not include protections for the young people described as "Dreamers," Republican Representative Mike Simpson told reporters after his party's closed-door meeting.[Demonstrators hold signs during a protest in front of the White House after the Trump administration today scrapped the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that protects from deportation almost 800,000 young men and women who were brought into the U.S. illegally as children, in Washington, U.S., September 5, 2017.]
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Demonstrators hold signs during a protest in front of the White House after the Trump administration today scrapped the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that protects from deportation almost 800,000 young men and women who were brought into the U.S. illegally as children, in Washington, U.S., September 5, 2017.Many Democrats in Congress have insisted that immigration be a component of the temporary spending bill.

But Democrats, under the plan being developed in the House, would win an unrelated high-priority item: a six-year reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), according to lawmakers. It was unclear whether the House Republican leadership would get enough votes to pass the measure in that chamber.

The conservative House Freedom Caucus was to meet late on Tuesday and its head, Representative Mark Meadows, told reporters he did not know if a "compelling" case had been made for another temporary spending bill that would fail to bring the big increases in defense spending his group is seeking.