The Trump administration fended off last-minute Democratic efforts to include funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and to restart federal money for rail projects — including the Gateway Tunnel — in a four-bill spending package the House takes up this week, two senior administration officials told Semafor.
The administration also kept out restrictions on interior immigration enforcement and federal layoffs, slashed foreign aid and preserved the ability to reorganize the Education Department.
Democrats believe they got as good a deal as possible on accountability for ICE and research and health care funding. The spin war matters: If Congress is going to avoid a shutdown, each side needs to feel like they won something. The Trump officials insisted their rescissions and threats of spending impoundment motivated Congress to move, and it’s hard to argue with that.