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A new Republican bid to keep the government open past Friday includes no fresh money for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, diminishing the chances of a last-minute spending fight.

The decision to withdraw a roughly $1.5billion request to begin building a physical barrier between the two countries may eliminate the White Houses best chance to secure the funding and begin construction this year. Nonetheless, President Trump and his aides vowed Tuesday that a wall will be built by the end of his current term.

GOP leaders submitted the new offer Tuesday in an effort to appease Democrats, whose votes are needed to avert a shutdown of federal agencies.

The wall was never going to be in there. There arent enough Republican votes, said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee and a lead negotiator.

In exchange for backing off the border funding request, Republicans insisted on increases in border security and defense spending, including an unspecified amount to repair fencing and new surveillance technology to patrol the nearly 2,000-mile border, according to multiple House and Senate aides familiar with the ongoing talks. Democrats have indicated that they would support such a plan as long as no money goes toward an actual wall.

(Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

Some in the White House have calculated that the Trump administration will have a better chance of funding the wall later this year. Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, told reporters Tuesday that the administration knows that the budget plan for fiscal 2018, which begins in October, is probably going to be a better place for us to better make the case for specific bricks and mortar for the wall. I think that we will have funding for physical barriers.

The two sides remain at odds over whether the spending bill would include money for subsidy payments under the Affordable Care Act, how long to extend a health-care program for coal miners and unrelated policy measures known as riders.

Tuesdays offer came as Republicans also pushed negotiations on tax reform and health care, eager to demonstrate forward motion on Trumps other top domestic priorities. Republican congressional leaders and the chairmen of tax-writing committees huddled with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn to review details of Trumps tax plan. And conservatives in the House were mulling support for a new proposal to revamp the nations health-care system.

A breakthrough came Monday, when Trump seemed to soften his demand for immediate funding for a border wall, telling a small group of conservative reporters he would be open to delaying a confrontation with Democrats over the border until September.

But by Tuesday, a defiant Trump insisted that no matter what happens with the spending fight, the walls going to get built.

Meeting with farmers at the White House, he defended his administrations work on border security so far, noting that illegal border crossings have dropped more than 70percent in the past year.

Asked by reporters when the wall would be built, Trump said, Soon.

When one reporter asked whether the wall would be built in his first term, Trump said, Yeah, we have plenty of time. Weve got a lot of time.

[No, no, no, no: Spicer wont say funding for border wall is delayed]

Even if funding for a border wall is revisited in the coming months, Trumps signature campaign pledge will run into fierce resistance in Congress. Border-state Republicans, fiscal conservatives in his own party and Democrats consider the project a non-starter.

A lot of us have been pushing for additional border security funding for a while, but a solitary, 2,000-mile wall has never been a must-have for anybody in a border state, said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), whose state has more than 300miles of border with Mexico.

Speaking for many Democrats, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has repeatedly called a border wall immoral.

Despite the presidents fluctuations, congressional leaders remained encouraged that at least for now, the White House wont be pushing for border wall money.

The fact that the wall is now off the table Americans should breathe a huge sigh of relief, said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate leadership, acknowledged that when it comes to the spending talks, the wall is becoming more of a nonissue.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a top appropriator, agreed, saying that Trumps comments were helpful to resolving weeks of talks over spending.

This is that moment where the president has to determine that you need some Democrat votes in the Senate to get the bill done. And the Democrats have to determine that there are a lot of things in that bill that they want, as well, Blunt said. They need a bill that the president will sign, and nobody can get too far out of the zone and hope to get both of those things done.

[Trump is caving on border wall funding after showing his base that he tried]

Less clear was whether Trump would feel blowback from his base. The White Houses decision to back off its request earned a rebuke from prominent conservatives, including radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who told his millions of listeners Tuesday that Trump is caving on his demand.

Faulting Democrats for threatening a shutdown, Limbaugh added that if Trump is willing to withdraw a demand for border wall money, then the Democrats will have just learned that this threat works on Trump, too, not just all the other Republicans.

House and Senate negotiators worked throughout a two-week Easter break on details of the spending plan, but the talks broke down last week after White House officials began demanding greater concessions from Democrats, including explicit funding for the wall.

[President Trump just had his bluff called again]

The issue of health subsidy payments, which affect approximately 7million Americans, has become the primary sticking point in the talks, the aides said. Democratic leaders demanded that the subsidies, which already are prescribed in the Affordable Care Act but which Trump has said he might not continue, be fully funded in the short-term spending bill to give Congress the power to make the payments.

But some Democrats have signaled a willingness to back down from that demand if the administration commits to continuing the payments on its own. Democrats also may be calculating that if Trump decides to stop the payments, the near-certain political damage would fall to him.

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), the second- ranking member of his caucus, said Tuesday that the subsidies should be handled by the White House, not Congress.

The president has the authority to go ahead and do it. He ought to do it, Hoyer told reporters.

The payments are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit filed by House Republicans, arguing that Congress should have to sign off on the subsidies. A federal district court ruled last year that the payments were illegal but allowed the program to continue during the appeals process.

It is unlikely that both the House and Senate will have enough time to pass an agreement before Friday, increasing chances that Congress will temporarily extend current spending levels. Negotiators would not confirm plans for a stopgap spending measure, but members of the appropriations committees are prepared to approve emergency spending to keep the government open for several days, according to several congressional aides.

Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, David Weigel, Sean Sullivan, Tory Newmyer, Paige Winfield Cunningham and Karen Tumulty contributed to this report.

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Hard-Line Republican Caucus Backs Revised Bill to Repeal Obamacare New York Times Senior White House officials, led by Reince Priebus, the chief of staff, have relentlessly pressed Republicans to revive the health care push before Mr. Trump's hundred-day mark on Saturday, and with conservatives falling into line, the bill has a ... Freedom Caucus endorses Obamacare repeal compromisePolitico Freedom Caucus endorses latest Republican plan to revise ObamacareWashington Post The New G.O.P. Health-Care Plan Is So Bad Even Republicans Want OutVanity Fair Huffington Post -CNN -Washington Times all 113 news articles »

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Hard-Line Republican Caucus Backs Revised Bill to Repeal Obamacare - New York Times

Administration officials say the White House wanted to take the lead on this -- rather than wait for the Hill -- to garner headlines ahead of Trump's 100th day in office.

House Speaker Paul Ryan put a positive spin on things during his own news conference Wednesday, noting that he saw the administration's announcement as a clear example that "progress is being made and we're moving and getting on the same page."

Indeed, House and Senate lawmakers all touted the administration's announcement and professed genuine enthusiasm for a big White House push on what will inevitably be a thorny and difficult process.

"The principles outlined by the Trump Administration today will serve as critical guideposts for Congress and the administration as we work together to overhaul the American tax system and ensure middle-class families and job creators are better positioned for the 21st century economy," Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch said in a joint statement.

But the lead-up to the release was far from a smooth process behind the scenes. The Trump administration has ruffled GOP feathers on Capitol Hill by getting in the way of legislators' efforts to fix the tax system.

"It's not tax reform," said one senior GOP aide. "Not even close."

While GOP lawmakers and aides directly involved in the process acknowledge both publicly and privately they are happy the White House is kicking into gear, none of the key players were given a heads-up before Trump announced he would be releasing his principles last week, according to multiple House and Senate GOP aides.

"We get that they want make a big show of leading the way on this, but that's not how this is supposed to work," one aide told CNN, adding that discussions between House and Senate tax writers and their administrating counterparts had been ongoing, if still far from any concrete agreement or pathway forward.

The White House defended the plan, which was presented in a single-page sheet during a briefing Wednesday afternoon.

"This isn't going to be easy. Doing big things never is," said Gary Cohn, director of the White House National Economic Council. "We will be attacked from the left and we'll be attacked from the right, but one thing is certain: I would never, ever bet against this President. He will get this done for the American people."

The topline principles Trump is releasing leave out the important signs of actual reform, not the least of which include: how to pay for it, what's the pathway through the House and Senate, where the key players off the Hill that have enormous lobbying clout stand on things, and more.

For some aides and lawmakers involved in the process, Trump's approach is being taken as a direct affront to Ryan and Brady, who spent more than a year on their tax proposal with the repeatedly stated goal of "once in a generation reform."

"It's really easy to talk about big cuts," a senior GOP aide told CNN. "We're about solutions. They aren't to that point yet, either on the policy or on the personnel level, and it's both obvious and disruptive to the process."

As the tax debate intensifies, one question above all is sure to emerge: How would the President's plan affect his own taxes?

For that, there is no answer, given his refusal to release his tax returns. Mnuchin said the President had "no intention" of releasing them now.

"The President has released plenty of information and I think has given more financial disclosure than anybody else," Mnuchin said. "I think the American population has plenty of information on it."

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What Hill Republicans think of Trump's tax plan: 'Not even close' to reform - CNN

WASHINGTON Republicans drew battle lines Wednesday over the spending bill that would keep the government running by refusing to fund ObamaCare subsidies.

Were not doing that, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday after a closed-door meeting with his GOP caucus.

Declining to include payments to insurers in the April must-pass spending bill increases the drama for a possible government shutdown at midnight Friday.

Pulling the money that helps low-income Americans afford insurance would create monumental instability in the individual marketplace, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens) warned Wednesday.

I dont think my Republican colleagues want to see this go unfunded. The instability they would create in the markets would be monumental to themselves and their states, Crowley said.

The government will shut down Saturday President Trumps 100th day if Congress fails to pass the new spending bill.

Ryan said lawmakers are very close to agreeing on spending priorities. He said the ObamaCare payments should be addressed separately by the Trump administration and not be a bargaining chip in the spending bill.

That is not an appropriation bill. Thats something separate that the administration does, Ryan said.

Trump has previously signaled a willingness to use his administrative authority to end the payments, which would mean ObamaCare dies.

The cost-sharing payments amounting to about $7 billion a year go to insurance companies so they can lower patient deductibles and co-pays for low-income patients.

Theyve been a huge source of controversy for House Republicans, with former House Speaker John Boehner even filing a lawsuit against the Obama administration in 2014.

Republicans argued Obama didnt have the authority to dole out those payments without the explicit approval of Congress. The case is pending.

Democrats warned of dire consequences if Trump carries out his threat to sabotage the ObamaCare market.

If he chooses to stop making these payments, it blows up the market, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Wednesday.

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Republicans refuse to fund ObamaCare subsidies - New York Post

As Republicans study an amendment to the American Health Care Act to see if it would revive the moribund effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, theyre wrestling over language that appears to benefit members of Congress and their staff and looking for a way to change it before any votes are called.

The language, first spotted by Vox health-care reporter Sarah Kliff, leaves a loophole in the McArthur-Meadows amendments waiversallowing insurers in states to cut back on theessential health benefits mandated by the ACA. Members of Congress or their staffers from a state that offers a skimpier set of standards would be able stay on the District of Columbias plan, which follows the ACA mandate.

Voxs story ran late Tuesday night, and by Wednesday morning, Republicans werereviewingthe loophole. One member who brought it up during the partys weekly conference meeting was told that the language might not stay in the bill.

[Conservative pressure groups throw weight behind GOP health-care deal]

In a scrum with reporters before the conference meeting, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said that the language was murky because the District is not a state. Later, leaving a meeting of the House Freedom Caucus, Meadows wasclearer about the need to strip the language.

If you look at the text, it actually penalizes members of Congress and people in D.C.,said Meadows, who did not explain howCongress and D.C. residents would be penalized. But we understand the optics, and were working on that to make sure that it gets fixed.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced a digital ad buy in the districts of 30 Republicans who either represented swing seats or had said theyd oppose the AHCA. The ad, stamped with the name of each targeted Republican, shows a Band-Aid under the word denied and an image of the Capitol under the word approved, accusing Republicans of twisting the rules to avoid personal pain.

Removing protections for people with preexisting conditions will go down in infamy as one of the most heartless acts of this Republican Congress, said DCCC spokesman Tyler Law. As proof of the repeal bills devastating impact, Republican members of Congress are exempting themselves from the punishment they are willing to inflict on their constituents.

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Republicans look to undo health-care loophole that appears to benefit members of Congress and staff - Washington Post