President Donald Trump shocked Republicans on Wednesday by making a deal with Democrats to prevent a government shutdown, to raise the debt ceiling and provide aid to communities hit by Hurricane Harvey, The Hill reports.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said that the deal was for the “good of the nation.”
Trump acted after Speaker Paul Ryan accused Democrats of playing politics with a national disaster, by presenting an offer which included a three-month debt limit hike to Harvey aid but left out government funding.
However, few hours later, Trump approved a package that included all three items at a meeting attended by Schumer, Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Representative Mark Meadows, the House Freedom Caucus’s chairman, offered a bit of cover for the president.
“I think there were no conservative solutions offered to the president in relationship to addressing the debt ceiling,” Meadows said.
He also suggested that Trump’s deal would not lead to a better outcome for Republicans in December, when Congress will be confronted with new deadlines to raise the debt ceiling and keep the government open.
“If this plays into a long-term strategy that has conservative wins, I’m willing to reconsider. At this point, I don’t see that end-game being very obvious,” Meadows added.
Congress is now expected to approve a package as soon as this week that would include $7.85 billion targeted toward Hurricane Harvey and would raise the debt ceiling and fund the government through December 15.
Trump agreed to the Pelosi-Schumer demands even as Ryan, McConnell and the president’s own Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, called for a longer-term debt-limit hike.
“We essentially came to a deal, and I think the deal will be very good,” Trump said aboard Air Force One as he traveled Wednesday afternoon to North Dakota.
Republicans initially pushed for an 18-month debt-limit extension, which would have kicked a new hike past the midterm elections. When Democrats objected, they floated six months, only to see Schumer and Pelosi dismiss that proposal and insist on three months, sources familiar with the meeting told The Hill.
After a brief standoff, congressional leaders thought there would be no deal, but then Trump told the leaders that they all should just agree to a three-month extension for the debt limit and a continuing resolution to fund the government.
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