Republicans float $5B plan to fund wall for two years

Senate Republicans are proposing a compromise that would provide $5 billion for President Trump’s southern border wall over two years.

“We’re not there yet, but it makes sense to us,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said of the two-year approach.

The Senate passed $1.6 billion in wall funding in its Homeland Security bill, in line with the White House’s original request. But Trump has since upped the ante to $5 billion, an amount the House included in its version of the bill.

Trump has threatened to veto any spending package that does not fund the wall to his satisfaction.

Congress faces a Dec. 7 deadline to fund the rest of the government and prevent a shutdown. It has seven spending bills to complete.

Before Thanksgiving, Trump told Shelby that the $5 billion figure was a red line for him.

“I think he would veto. He said he would veto at $1.6, so I take him at his word,” Shelby said Tuesday, adding that Congress would not override a presidential veto.