Capitol agenda: Democrats and White House in last-ditch talks to avert extended shutdown

Senate Democrats and the White House are in intensive negotiations over how to avert an extended partial shutdown of the federal government that is set to start early Saturday morning.

The two sides haven’t yet reached an agreement, according to a person granted anonymity to describe the private discussions.

Even if Democrats and the White House reach an agreement, Congress is still expected to blow past the Friday midnight shutdown deadline, since the House is in recess until Monday and is not expected to reconvene earlier to ratify any changes to the six-bill funding package it sent to the Senate last week.

The person with knowledge of the discussions characterized them as “ongoing and moving in Democrats’ direction.” A White House official granted anonymity to comment on the pending negotiations said Trump “wants the government to remain open” and confirmed the administration is “working with both parties to ensure the American people don’t have to endure another shutdown.”

Democrats have unified behind a demand that Republicans agree to remove Department of Homeland Security funding from the six-bill package following the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis man, by federal agents Saturday.

The Senate is set to vote on that package Thursday morning, with Democrats expected to block it absent an agreement with the White House. Were the Senate to agree on splitting apart the bills, it’s unclear if or how quickly the House could act to send them to President Donald Trump.

Democrats want to renegotiate the DHS bill to include new restrictions and rules for immigration enforcement activities, including tightening rules for warrants and requiring independent investigations.

But Democrats are open to a “very-short term extension” of DHS funding in order to give Congress and the White House time to renegotiate the bill, the person added.

White House border czar Tom Homan, who has been tasked by Trump with overseeing the DHS enforcement operation in Minnesota, is set to address reporters Thursday morning in Minneapolis.

Separately, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced early Thursday that ICE has ended its “enhanced activities” in Maine, citing a conversation with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“There are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations here,” Collins said.

What else we’re watching:   

— Key crypto markup: The Senate Agriculture Committee will mark up landmark cryptocurrency legislation at 10:30 a.m. The big question is whether any Democrats will back the so-called crypto market structure bill coming out of committee.

Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) negotiated for months over the proposal with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), but is moving forward with a GOP-only bill that doesn’t currently have any bipartisan backing. That could set the stage for a party-line vote Thursday — or Democrats could vote for it and push for further changes before it hits the floor.

Jasper Goodman contributed to this report.