President Donald Trump has invited congressional leaders of both parties to a Wednesday afternoon briefing on the border wall at the White House, which would be the first such meeting since the shutdown began, Politico reported Tuesday.
News of the meeting comes just as Trump used Twitter to urge House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the likely next House Speaker, to consider a "deal" on border security to end the government shutdown.
According to three congressional sources familiar with the invitation, the session will include a briefing by top Homeland Security Department officials and comes as a partial government shutdown over Trump’s border wall is in its 11th day.
There have so far been virtually no discussions during the shutdown, and the meeting would offer both sides a chance to restart negotiations.
Those invited to the briefing include Pelosi, incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House GOP leaders Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, Senate Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin, as well as Senate Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and John Thune.
In the early afternoon Tuesday, Trump took a shot at Pelosi on Twitter in a post that also included an indication that he is willing to comromise:
"Border Security and the Wall “thing” and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker! Let’s make a deal?"
On Thursday, Democrats will take control of the House and are expected to immediately pass a bill to reopen the government without providing the $5 billion Trump has demanded for a wall on the southern border.
The vote would be on a bipartisan package of six Senate spending bills and a stopgap measure to re-open the Department of Homeland Security at its current funding levels until February 8, according to CNN.
This would maintain the current $1.3 billion in border security funds, which can be used for fencing and repairs of current barriers.
The president has declared that he will continue the shutdown standoff until he gets the funding he demands to build the wall.
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