President Donald Trump met with Congressional leaders at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the many pressing issues facing Washington, D.C., in September.
But instead of planning to pass any long-term funding, the president appeared willing to punt his big agenda items to December and focus on passing Hurricane relief funding.
Trump met with House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
In a joint statement after the meeting, Pelosi and Schumer signaled that Trump had made a deal.
“In the meeting, the President and Congressional leadership agreed to pass aid for Harvey, an extension of the debt limit, and a continuing resolution both to December 15, all together,” Schumer and Pelosi said in a statement after the meeting. “Both sides have every intention of avoiding default in December and look forward to working together on the many issues before us.”
Trump signaled after the meeting that he was willing to move quickly to raise the debt ceiling for a three-month extension.
“We had a very good meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “We agreed to a three-month extension on debt ceiling, which they consider to be sacred — very important.”
The president is currently traveling to North Dakota for a speech on tax reform.
“We had a very good meeting. We essentially came to a deal, and I think the deal will be very good,” Trump said.
Republican leaders, however, had expressed before the meeting that they wanted a more substantial debt ceiling deal or some long term legislation.
Trump indicated that he had no problem raising the debt ceiling.
“Always we’ll agree on debt ceiling automatically because of the importance of it,” he said.
The White House requested $7.85 billion for emergency Harvey aid and called for Congress to raise the debt ceiling immediately.
Congress has to pass an emergency funding bill for the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Louisiana and Texas and raise the debt ceiling. They also need to pass a budget or a continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown. The group also discussed the future of DACA recipients and Trump’s six-month window allowing Congress to come up with a solution before the program ends.