Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is seeking to establish middle ground between the White House and the Democrat-controlled House for a bipartisan deal on fiscal spending limits for next year, The Hill reported Wednesday.
Democrats are pressing that any fiscal 2020 budget legislation include nondefense spending set at levels equal to defense spending, while the White House budget slashes nondefense spending and increases defense spending by 5%.
McConnell says finding a deal that will satisfy the White House, Senate and Congress will be his top legislative priority following the April recess but believes achieving it will be difficult.
“We have got to get used to talking to each other,” McConnell said he has told President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
The upcoming 2020 presidential campaign is driving politics around the budget negotiation talks.
Last week’s collapse of bipartisan negotiations on a disaster relief supplemental spending bill highlighted how difficult it could become to pass bipartisan budget legislation.
Kentucky Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer
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