The likelihood of a U.S. government shutdown is declining and optimism is rising.

"We have been working in good faith around the clock every day, for months, weeks, and in the past few days, almost around the clock, to get this done," said House Speaker Johnson.

Johnson walked out of the White House after speaking one-on-one with the president "very optimistic" about reaching a spending deal and saying preventing a shutdown was "our first responsibility." But a can-do attitude only goes so far.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority leader, gave a similarly upbeat assessment to reporters at the Capitol: "We're making some real progress in the appropriations process."

But it is unclear whether an agreement will be reached before Friday night, when government funding for several departments is expected to end, and funding for the rest is expected to run out on March 8. According to foreign media, Johnson has proposed to the White House to postpone the deadline to avoid a government shutdown to March 8 and March 22.

Johnson made clear he was prepared to continue to block aid to Ukraine.The deal would provide full-year funding for departments that were at risk of shutdown on Friday, including the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.

There are also some relatively minor policy disputes that still need to be resolved. Time is running out, and if the House and Senate cannot complete a combined bill by the end of Friday, lawmakers will need to pass bills over several days to avoid a weekend shutdown.

While the shutdown risk has receded for now, the problems with Ukraine aid have only deepened. Johnson continued to press for changes in immigration policy in his meetings with the president, but the White House said those changes could not be made legally.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was willing to negotiate with Johnson on a new border bill, but that it would take time and would put Ukraine deeper in danger as it fights Russia.

Schumer said the "session on Ukraine was very intense, and everyone in the room was telling Speaker Johnson how important it was to provide assistance."

“The nation’s top priority is to secure our border, and I believe the president can exercise executive authority today to change that,” Johnson said.

Biden has been urging Congress for months to approve additional funding for Ukraine, arguing that the country will run out of artillery, anti-aircraft weapons and other munitions it needs to confront Russia without continued U.S. assistance. The foreign aid bill passed by the Senate would provide more than $60 billion for Kyiv's war and about $14 billion in aid for Israel.

Biden said before the meeting that the consequences of inaction on Ukraine would be dire.

The article is forwarded from: Jinshi Data