MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Funding runs out for a quarter of the federal government on Friday. And President Trump has threatened to shut down the government unless Congress gives him $5 billion for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it.
KELLY: But - you knew there was a but coming - today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced a short-term funding deal without any of that money Trump is demanding.
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MITCH MCCONNELL: We need the government to remain open for the American people. We need to wrap up our work for this year.
KELLY: So what happens now? NPR's congressional correspondent Scott Detrow joins us from Capitol Hill. Hey there, Scott.
SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE: Hey there.
KELLY: So for context, what exactly was going to shut down if there were a shutdown? Which I guess it's now looking like there won't be a shutdown.
DETROW: Right, more theoretical at this point.
KELLY: Right.
DETROW: It is just a quarter of the federal government, but that included some important parts - the Department of Justice and Homeland Security. It did include the National Park Service, which of course is always one of the most high-profile casualties of a shutdown, even though probably not as much camping planned for late December as if this were midsummer.
KELLY: And help me get my head around what just unfolded because, as we heard, the president said he was going to shut down the government unless he got his $5 billion for a border wall. This deal does not include $5 billion for a border wall. What happened?
DETROW: Well, it looks like President Trump backed down. There was a real sense of frustration, even apathy from lawmakers from both parties this week, just a lot of standing around waiting for the White House to decide what it would or would not accept in a funding deal.
Trump's press secretary Sarah Sanders had laid the groundwork for softening some of President Trump's ultimatum earlier this week, saying the White House could always use money from elsewhere in the government to build a wall. Democrats pointed out that's not how things work, that Congress is the one that appropriates how money is spent.
KELLY: Yeah.
DETROW: And the bottom line here is neither side in Congress wanted a shutdown, and they have made a deal here. They've agreed to a bill funding the government through early February. And it does not have that $5 billion.
KELLY: It does not. So might the last laugh be the president's? Is he definitely going to sign this bill?
DETROW: Well, the White House is remaining a bit cryptic as of right now. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway talked to NPR earlier today. And she sounded pretty frustrated.
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KELLYANNE CONWAY: The first, foremost question is why does Congress always take the path of least resistance? And this is a Republican-led Congress. That - why are you just going for the short-term funding through the CR and not tackling the bigger issues - immigration reform, border security? The president is looking at the CR. And I will allow him to make the (laughter) announcements on whether he's signing it or when he signs it.
DETROW: So unclear there. But the fact is that Mitch McConnell would not have introduced this and set the process of a vote on it unless he had gotten an indication from the White House the president would sign this bill. Still, we know this is a president who likes to change his mind at the last minute. And some hard-line conservatives like Mark Meadows are urging him to veto this.
KELLY: Assuming all does go to plan, to Mitch McConnell's plan, and the president does sign, that would push us into February - right? - when Democrats will control the House. So is the president ever going to see this $5 billion that he wants?
DETROW: It's really hard to see how he ever gets it at this point. He has repeatedly not gotten it at points that government funding has run out when Republicans have controlled all branches of government. When Democrats take charge in January of the House, it's really hard to see them giving him anything more than they have right now when it comes to funding for border security.
KELLY: All right-y (ph). Thank you, Scott.
DETROW: Thank you.
KELLY: NPR's Scott Detrow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
