On Monday evening, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) announced that the bicameral conference committee of legislative leaders tasked with reaching an agreement on border security and funding a quarter of the federal government has “reached an agreement in principle.”
Shelby, who serves as vice-chair of the conference committee, helped spearhead what The Hill described as “a last-ditch effort to get a deal.”
“We’ve had a good evening,” the senior senator from Alabama told reporters on Capitol Hill.
He explained, “We’re talking about reaching an agreement on all of it.”
Sen. Shelby announces conferees reached an agreement “in principle” and staff will work on hammering out the language now
— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) February 12, 2019
This came after Shelby appeared on Fox News Sunday, announcing that negotiations had “stalled” over Democrats wanting to cap the number of illegal immigrants ICE could detain, rather than “catch and release.”
The government is set to partially shut down again Friday at midnight. Shelby had circled Monday as a deadline for agreeing to a deal because Congressional rules eat up time as legislation makes its way through both chambers before heading to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Details of the agreement in principle have yet to be announced.
When asked if the White House was on board with the agreement, Shelby reportedly said, “We think so. We hope so.”
Update, 9:30 p.m.:
According to Politico, Shelby advised, “The White House has been consulted all along,” noting that he has been given “latitude” to negotiate on behalf of the Trump administration.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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