While the monstrous Hurricane Irma makes landfall in the Caribbean, the United States House has passed a massive Hurricane Harvey relief bill worth $7.9 billion. According to Politico, the measure — which is more accurately worth $7.85 billion in aid — was “overwhelmingly approved” in the hopes of “landing the legislation on President Donald Trump’s desk by week’s end.” Whether or not Trump sees the bill in its current form by then, however, depends on what happens to it in the Senate.

The president, who previously pledged $1 million of his own money to Harvey victims in Texas and Louisiana, called upon Congress to compose and pass a relief measure reportedly worth $6 billion last Friday. However, many of the more fiscally conservative members among the House’s GOP contingent — especially the Freedom Caucus — remained publicly weary of Trump’s insistence the bill be added to the already problematic debt ceiling. “The Harvey relief would pass on its own, and to use that as a vehicle to get people to vote for a debt ceiling is not appropriate,” Freedom Caucus leader Mark Meadows said then.

Despite House Republicans’ distaste at the connection, however, the Harvey relief bill was “overwhelmingly approved” on Wednesday. Yet an offer from Senate and House minority leaders Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Nancy Pelosi (D-California) may play into Meadows and his colleagues’ fears. Per Politico, they offered Trump “their votes for a package delivering aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey and raising the debt ceiling only until mid-December.” (Congressional Republicans want to raise it through late 2018.) FEMA is expected to run out of emergency funds on Friday, so the GOP just might concede to this.</s>WASHINGTON/ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - President Donald Trump forged a surprising deal with Democrats in Congress on Wednesday to extend the U.S. debt limit and provide government funding until Dec. 15, embracing his political adversaries and blindsiding fellow Republicans in a rare bipartisan accord.

Trump, living up to his reputation for unpredictability, met at the White House with congressional leaders from both parties and overruled Republicans and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who wanted a longer-term debt-limit extension rather than the three-month Democratic proposal the president embraced.

“We could have done a one-year deal today,” Mnuchin told reporters aboard Air Force One later in the day en route back to Washington from an event in North Dakota where Trump spoke about taxes.

Mnuchin said Trump chose a short-term deal to keep his options open on possibly raising military funding later this year, suggesting a longer-term government funding deal might have blocked that.

Trump is very focused on military spending, “particularly with what’s going on in North Korea and other parts of the world today,” Mnuchin said. “The president wasn’t willing to give up his need for additional military spending.”

If passed by the Republican-led Congress, the three-month agreement would avert an unprecedented default on U.S. government debt, keep the government funded at the outset of the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and provide aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey.

“It was a really good moment of some bipartisanship and getting things done,” top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said.

Less than an hour before the meeting, Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan had called the Democratic proposal that Trump later embraced a “ridiculous and disgraceful” idea that would “play politics with the debt ceiling.”

Even with the three-month extension of the debt limit, a Senate Republican aide told reporters that nothing in the tentative deal would stop the Treasury Department from using its powers to extend the deadline, depending on revenue flow. In the past, the debt limit deadline has been extended for several months under those powers.

‘NEEDED TO COME TOGETHER’

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, overridden by Trump during the meeting, said he would bring the deal to the Senate floor for a vote.

“The president can speak for himself, but his feeling was that we needed to come together, to not create a picture of divisiveness at a time of genuine national crisis,” McConnell told reporters.

The agreement was an uncommon instance of bipartisan compromise since Trump took office in January. Washington has suffered through bitter partisanship that has at times left the U.S. capital dysfunctional under Trump and his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump had tangled repeatedly with Schumer and top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

“We had a very good meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,” Trump, a wealthy businessman who as a candidate touted his deal-making skills, told reporters aboard Air Force One, without mentioning McConnell or Ryan, with whom he has had fraught relations.

“We agreed to a three-month extension on debt ceiling, which they consider to be sacred, very important. Always we’ll agree on debt ceiling, automatically because of the importance of it,” Trump said.

Conservative groups were aghast, accusing Trump of caving in to the Democrats rather than insisting on spending cuts to accompany the debt ceiling increase, and some hard-line Republicans expressed opposition to it.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with congressional leaders: House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., September 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Republican leaders and Mnuchin pushed in the meeting for an 18-month debt limit hike, then floated six months, but Pelosi and Schumer held firm to their three-month proposal and Trump sided with them, according to people familiar with the meeting.

The party in power, in this case Republicans, often argues for the longest debt limit increase as possible for two reasons. First, it protects members of Congress from casting multiple votes on the politically unpopular legislation over a short period of time, especially in the run-up to the 2018 congressional elections. Second, it helps stabilize markets.

For minority Democrats, whose votes are needed to pass debt ceiling increases, they could potentially use the debt limit vote later in the year as leverage to win concessions on a tax overhaul package that Trump badly wants to advance.

Even though Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, Trump has yet to win passage of any major legislation, with Democrats typically united against him.

The House on Wednesday approved roughly $8 billion in initial emergency aid for relief and rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey, which tore into Texas on Aug. 25, with the measure now going to the Senate.

“Our No. 1 priority was getting funding for Harvey,” Mnuchin said. “To get the funding for Harvey, we needed to extend the debt limit.”

STOCKS, DOLLAR RISE

U.S. shares rose and the dollar gained against the safe-haven Japanese yen as word of the deal helped mitigate investor concerns about North Korea and a major hurricane barreling toward Florida. The news also lifted the yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR after it had fallen to a near 10-month low at 2.054 percent.

The Treasury Department has said the ceiling must be raised in the next few weeks. If not, the government would be unable to borrow more money or pay its bills, including its debt payments. That could hurt the U.S. credit rating, cause financial turmoil, harm the economy and possibly trigger a recession.

Slideshow (9 Images)

Representative Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, was aboard Air Force One when he heard about the short-term deal. He told reporters on the plane: “I will tell you that I gasped when I heard it.”

He said the deal would be a “tough sell” for House Republicans but that some would “warm up to the idea” when they learned more about it.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday moved swiftly toward approving $7.9 billion in Harvey disaster relief as Republicans and Democrats united, if only for a moment, to proclaim Congress’ support for victims of the storm while a new hurricane bore down on Florida.

“Nothing can capture how big and wide this devastation is,” Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters ahead of an expected resounding vote.

But politics quickly intruded as Democratic leaders insisted they would back the measure in the Senate only if it were linked to a short-term increase in the nation’s borrowing limit, not the longer-term hike that Republicans and the Trump administration want.

Republican leaders want to rush Harvey aid to Texas with Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster accounts now down to $1 billion or less, and a much more powerful hurricane, Irma, crashing into the Caribbean.

“My friends and neighbors’ homes were completely flattened by Hurricane Harvey’s winds. Businesses were destroyed,” said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas. “FEMA will be out of money in just two or three days if we don’t pass this.”

The relief measure was heading for a resounding vote, even as some Democrats from the New York delegation reminded Texas Republicans that they opposed aid for those harmed by Superstorm Sandy five years ago.

“What you did to us during Superstorm Sandy should not stand, should not be done to any other people, anyplace in the country,” said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. “We’re one country, we’re Americans. We need to help those who need help.”

Determined to avoid an economy-shattering default, the GOP leaders want to link a long-term increase in the debt limit — until 2019 — to the Harvey aid, but that plan faces opposition from conservatives and thus will need Democratic votes.

The announcement by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York is aimed at retaining Democratic influence and trying to ensure the Republican-controlled Congress addresses health care and immigration as the hectic fall agenda kicks off.

“Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan, we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default, while both sides work together to address government funding, DREAMERS, and health care,” Pelosi and Schumer wrote.

Democratic votes are needed to quickly pass a debt limit increase, even though Republicans control Congress. Many Republicans simply won’t vote to increase the limit without cuts elsewhere in government spending.

Asked about the three-month proposal, Ryan told reporters, “I think that’s a ridiculous idea … ridiculous idea that they want to play politics with the debt ceiling.”

The first installment in Harvey aid is to handle the immediate emergency needs and replenish reserves in advance of Irma. Far more money will be needed once more complete estimates are in this fall, and Harvey could end up exceeding the $110 billion government cost of Hurricane Katrina.

The move by Pelosi and Schumer is aimed at winning assurances that minority party Democrats will be treated fairly as Congress advances through its daunting to-do list, which includes extending a popular children’s health program, federal flood insurance, and, perhaps, a budget that would ease tight limits on Pentagon and domestic spending.

GOP leaders have signaled that they want to use the urgent Harvey aid bill to solve perhaps the most vexing issue facing Congress this month: Increasing the U.S. debt limit to make sure the government can borrow freely again to cover its bills, including Harvey aid.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said again Wednesday that increased Harvey costs show the importance of acting swiftly to increase the government’s debt cap to make sure there’s enough borrowed cash to pay out the surge in disaster aid.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who conceded that conservatives were getting outmaneuvered.

“I think at this point there are bigger issues that we have to focus on,” Meadows said.

“I have opposed a debt ceiling increase every time it has come up for a vote,” said Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas. “I am heavily opposed to lumping these two separate issues together.”

Analysts at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, say Harvey aid wouldn’t cause a cash crunch for weeks.

“We’re dealing with all these things at this point in time anyway,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley of New York. “Democrats have said we’re for a clean debt ceiling and we’re also for making sure the people from Texas, Louisiana, and elsewhere who’ve been severely damaged by these storms — with one more on the way as well — that their needs need to be addressed as well.”</s>WASHINGTON — President Trump struck a deal with Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday to increase the debt limit and finance the government until mid-December, blindsiding his own Republican allies as he reached across the aisle to resolve a major dispute for the first time since taking office.

The agreement would avert a fiscal showdown later this month without the bloody, partisan battle that many had anticipated by combining a debt ceiling increase and stopgap spending measure with relief aid to Texas and other areas devastated by Hurricane Harvey. But without addressing the fundamental underlying issues, it set up the prospect for an even bigger clash at the end of the year.

In embracing the three-month deal, Mr. Trump accepted a Democratic proposal that had been rejected earlier in the day by Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin. Mr. Trump’s snap decision at a White House meeting caught Republican leaders off guard and reflected friction between the president and his party. After weeks of criticizing Republican leaders for failing to pass legislation, Mr. Trump signaled that he was willing to cross party lines to score some much-desired legislative victories.

The deal to keep the government open and paying its debts until Dec. 15 represented an extraordinary public turn for the president, who has for much of his term set himself up on the right flank of the Republican Party. But it remained unclear whether Mr. Trump’s collaboration with Democrats foreshadowed a more sustained shift in strategy by a president who has presented himself as a master dealmaker or amounted to just a one-time instinctual reaction of a mercurial leader momentarily eager to poke his estranged allies.</s>WASHINGTON | The House on Wednesday moved swiftly toward approving $7.9 billion in Harvey disaster relief as Republicans and Democrats united, if only for a moment, to proclaim Congress’ support for victims of the storm while a new hurricane bore down on Florida.

“Nothing can capture how big and wide this devastation is,” Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters ahead of an expected resounding vote.

But politics quickly intruded as Democratic leaders insisted they would back the measure in the Senate only if it were linked to a short-term increase in the nation’s borrowing limit, not the longer-term hike that Republicans and the Trump administration want.

Republican leaders want to rush Harvey aid to Texas with Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster accounts now down to $1 billion or less, and a much more powerful hurricane, Irma, crashing into the Caribbean.

“My friends and neighbors’ homes were completely flattened by Hurricane Harvey’s winds. Businesses were destroyed,” said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas. “FEMA will be out of money in just two or three days if we don’t pass this.”

The relief measure was heading for a resounding vote, even as some Democrats from the New York delegation reminded Texas Republicans that they opposed aid for those harmed by Superstorm Sandy five years ago.

“What you did to us during Superstorm Sandy should not stand, should not be done to any other people, anyplace in the country,” said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. “We’re one country, we’re Americans. We need to help those who need help.”

Determined to avoid an economy-shattering default, the GOP leaders want to link a long-term increase in the debt limit — until 2019 — to the Harvey aid, but that plan faces opposition from conservatives and thus will need Democratic votes.

The announcement by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York is aimed at retaining Democratic influence and trying to ensure the Republican-controlled Congress addresses health care and immigration as the hectic fall agenda kicks off.

“Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan, we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default, while both sides work together to address government funding, DREAMERS, and health care,” Pelosi and Schumer wrote.

Democratic votes are needed to quickly pass a debt limit increase, even though Republicans control Congress. Many Republicans simply won’t vote to increase the limit without cuts elsewhere in government spending.

Asked about the three-month proposal, Ryan told reporters, “I think that’s a ridiculous idea … ridiculous idea that they want to play politics with the debt ceiling.”

The first installment in Harvey aid is to handle the immediate emergency needs and replenish reserves in advance of Irma. Far more money will be needed once more complete estimates are in this fall, and Harvey could end up exceeding the $110 billion government cost of Hurricane Katrina.

The move by Pelosi and Schumer is aimed at winning assurances that minority party Democrats will be treated fairly as Congress advances through its daunting to-do list, which includes extending a popular children’s health program, federal flood insurance, and, perhaps, a budget that would ease tight limits on Pentagon and domestic spending.

GOP leaders have signaled that they want to use the urgent Harvey aid bill to solve perhaps the most vexing issue facing Congress this month: Increasing the U.S. debt limit to make sure the government can borrow freely again to cover its bills, including Harvey aid.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said again Wednesday that increased Harvey costs show the importance of acting swiftly to increase the government’s debt cap to make sure there’s enough borrowed cash to pay out the surge in disaster aid.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who conceded that conservatives were getting outmaneuvered.

“I think at this point there are bigger issues that we have to focus on,” Meadows said.

“I have opposed a debt ceiling increase every time it has come up for a vote,” said Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas. “I am heavily opposed to lumping these two separate issues together.”

Analysts at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, say Harvey aid wouldn’t cause a cash crunch for weeks.

“We’re dealing with all these things at this point in time anyway,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley of New York. “Democrats have said we’re for a clean debt ceiling and we’re also for making sure the people from Texas, Louisiana, and elsewhere who’ve been severely damaged by these storms — with one more on the way as well — that their needs need to be addressed as well.”</s>President Donald Trump and congressional leaders agreed Wednesday to extend both the country’s debt limit and government funding to Dec. 15, as well as aid states devastated by Hurricane Harvey, two top Democrats said.</s>Congressional Democratic leaders said Wednesday they were prepared to offer to President Donald Trump and GOP leaders their support for a three-month increase in the federal government's borrowing limit and an initial package of relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey, in what aides described as a bid to maintain their leverage in upcoming negotiations across a range of issues.

In a joint statement issued Wednesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said they would back a bill expected to come up for a vote in the House on Wednesday that would provide $7.85 billion in Harvey emergency aid.

Senate GOP leaders indicated Tuesday they plan to attach an increase in the debt limit, a politically difficult vote for many Republicans, to the popular Harvey aid. Already some conservative Republicans have balked at the combination, saying they won't support raising the debt limit without taking other steps to rein in federal spending.

"Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan, we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default, while both sides work together to address government funding, DREAMers, and health care," Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer said. The two Democratic leaders will propose this plan to Mr. Trump and GOP leaders at a meeting later Wednesday at the White House, according to a Democratic aide.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Hurricane Irma, a massive storm threatening Florida over the next several days, in addition to Harvey, increased the pressure for Congress to move swiftly on both emergency relief and raising the debt limit.

"The need for certainty now is incredibly important," Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor Wednesday, noting that he was in discussions with Democrats.

The Democratic leaders' offer is a move to maintain the party's leverage in upcoming negotiations over the next three months, aides said. The government's current funding is set to expire by Oct. 1 and lawmakers have said they expect to pass a short-term measure keeping the government running until December. Passage of a short-term debt limit increase would likely align the two fiscal deadlines.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has urged lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling by the end of September to ensure that the government has enough cash to pay its bills on time. Failure to increase the debt limit could cause the government to miss payments to bondholders and result in a default on government debt.

Lawmakers are also debating how to address an Obama administration-era program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, that shields undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children. Mr. Trump on Tuesday said he would end the program after six months and urged lawmakers to pass broad immigration legislation before then.

And many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hope to take steps to shore up the 2010 Affordable Care Act's individual insurance markets. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D., Wash.) are holding bipartisan hearings on the issue in the Senate this week.

WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democratic leaders said Wednesday they were prepared to offer to President Donald Trump and Republican leaders support for a three-month increase in the federal government's borrowing limit and an initial package of relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey, in a move that would maintain uncertainty around the debt limit but give Democrats more leverage in upcoming negotiations.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said they would back a bill expected to come up for a vote Wednesday in the House that would provide $7.85 billion in Harvey emergency aid.

Senate GOP leaders indicated Tuesday they plan to attach an increase in the debt limit, a politically difficult vote for many Republicans, to the popular Harvey aid. Already some conservative Republicans have balked at the combination, saying they won't support raising the debt limit without taking other steps to rein in federal spending.

"Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan, we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default" while addressing other issues including Mr. Trump's decision to end a program that shields undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children, Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer said.

The two Democratic leaders will propose the plan to Mr. Trump and GOP leaders at a meeting later Wednesday at the White House, according to a Democratic aide.

"That's a ridiculous idea," Mr. Ryan told reporters. "We've got all this devastation in Texas, we've got another hurricane about to hit Florida and they want to play politics with the debt ceiling?"

Mr. Ryan said Democrats' offer could jeopardize the Harvey aid if it gets caught in the crosshairs of the debt-ceiling fight. GOP leaders were expected to push for a longer-term increase in the debt limit, but the exact amount wasn't clear Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said the prospect of Hurricane Irma, a storm threatening Florida over the next several days, increased the pressure for Congress to move swiftly on both emergency relief and raising the debt limit.

"The need for certainty now is incredibly important," Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor Wednesday, noting that he was in discussions with Democrats.

The Democratic leaders' offer is a move to maintain the party's leverage in upcoming negotiations over the next three months, Democratic aides said. The government's funding is set to expire by Oct. 1, and lawmakers have said they expect to pass a short-term measure keeping the government running until December. Passage of a short-term debt limit increase would likely align the two fiscal deadlines.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has urged lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling by the end of September to ensure the government can pay its bills on time. Failure to increase the debt limit could cause the government to miss payments to bondholders and result in a default on government debt.

Lawmakers are also debating how to address the Obama administration-era program that protects undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children -- known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Mr. Trump on Tuesday said he would end the program after six months and urged lawmakers to pass broad immigration legislation before then.

And many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hope to take steps to shore up the 2010 Affordable Care Act's individual insurance markets. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D., Wash.) are holding bipartisan hearings on the issue this week in the Senate.</s>The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is running dangerously low on money for disaster relief just as the historic Hurricane Irma is barreling towards Florida, but there's help on the way.

The FEMA disaster relief fund has seen its coffers dwindle to a little over $1 billion over the past few weeks as it dealt with the devastating impact of Hurricane Harvey. Of that money, according to Bloomberg, only $541 million was "immediately available" as of Tuesday.

Prior to Harvey, the fund had roughly $3.3 billion remaining, which dwindled to $2.14 billion on Thursday. Based on the current rate of spending, the disaster relief fund will run out on Friday.

This forces Congress to allocate money back to the FEMA relief fund, but that's easier said than done.

There can be larger bills that provide money for disasters outside of the relief fund. For instance, Congress allocated $9.7 billion to the relief fund after Hurricane Sandy and then followed that up with a controversial broader package worth more than $50 billion a few weeks later.

The disaster relief fund, however, is supposed to address the immediate needs following a storm and is necessary for quick action following Harvey and, soon, Irma.

This means that FEMA could bump into a problem not only with the clean-up in Texas and Louisiana, but also emergency response to Florida and any other areas hit by Irma.

Currently, additional funding for the relief fund is the subject of a bill that just passed the US Senate and would allocate $7.4 billion in funding to the FEMA disaster relief fund.

While adding more money to the disaster relief fund is a popular bill across both parties, there are some complications over the replenishment.

Currently, the federal government is close to bumping into the debt ceiling — or the cap on the amount of debt the government can hold. According to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, if the additional funds are given to FEMA this would push the US perilously close to the debt ceiling. If the ceiling were breached, this could cause the US to default on some of its debt and trigger a massive economic crisis.

In order to avoid a default while also allocating the needed funds, congressional leaders decided to attach a debt ceiling increase to the Harvey relief package in order for the government to borrow the money necessary to fill FEMA's coffers.

While both parties agreed to attach the relief to the debt ceiling, Democrats wanted a short-term debt ceiling increase while Republicans wanted something further into the future.

President Donald Trump sided with the Democrats, leading to a package that not only includes the relief funds but also a three-month debt ceiling suspension and funding to keep the government open through mid-December.

While the bill cleared the Senate hurdle, it needs to be voted on in the House. So far one major Republican group, the Republican Study Committee, said it opposed the package as it stands now. Other Republicans in the House also expressed trepidation about the package.

While Democrats and more moderate Republicans should be enough to pass the bill and boost the FEMA fund, if these funds are not allocated in time it could leave the agency hamstrung as it tries to manage the fallout from two massive storms.</s>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump overruled congressional Republicans and his own treasury secretary Wednesday and cut a deal with Democrats to fund the government and raise the federal borrowing limit for three months, all part of an agreement to speed money to Harvey relief.

In the course of a relatively brief negotiating session at the White House, Trump largely sided with Democratic leaders as they pushed for the three-month deal. He brushed aside calls from Republican congressional leaders and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for a longer extension to the debt limit, which Republicans had been aiming for to avoid having to take another vote on the politically toxic issue before the 2018 elections.

Trump then boarded a plane to North Dakota with Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, in an effort to garner bipartisan support for tax legislation that Republican leaders are crafting on a purely partisan basis.

That continued the day of bizarre disconnects between the president and the leaders of his party.

“We had a very good meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, not bothering to mention House Speaker Paul Ryan or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who also were present. “We agreed to a three-month extension on debt ceiling, which they consider to be sacred, very important.”

“We had a very good meeting, we essentially came to a deal and I think the deal will be very good,” Trump said. Details of the meeting were disclosed by several aides briefed on the proceedings who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly.

The deal promises to speed the $7.9 billion Hurricane Harvey aid bill, which passed the House overwhelmingly Wednesday, to Trump’s desk before disaster accounts run out later this week.

The move also buys almost three months, until Dec. 15, for Washington to try to solve myriad other issues, including more funding for the military, immigration and health care, and a longer-term increase in the government’s borrowing authority to avoid a first-ever default.

Trump cut the deal at the White House just hours after Ryan had slammed the idea of the three-month extension sought by Democrats as “ridiculous.”</s>President Donald Trump’s unexpected decision to spurn his Republican allies in Congress by striking a short-term debt-limit deal with Democrats leaves the GOP reeling and lawmakers bracing for a bruising battle in December.

Trump’s move undercut GOP leaders in the House and Senate, as well as his own Treasury secretary, who had been arguing for a longer-term extension. It also left Republicans, who were blindsided by the deal, angry and disappointed with their own leaders and, to a lesser degree, Trump.

"Democrats got exactly what they wanted,” House Freedom Caucus head Mark Meadows said, adding that the deal “gives them the greatest leverage in the world to get exactly what they want later."

During an Oval Office meeting Wednesday, Trump accepted a proposal by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his House counterpart, Nancy Pelosi, to tie a three-month suspension of the debt limit to a Hurricane Harvey relief measure -- and throw in a stopgap continuing resolution to fund the government into December.

The episode provided the latest illustration of the bind Republicans find themselves in. Even though they control the White House and both chambers of Congress, they’ve been unable to set aside their own differences to get much done. Instead, this latest deal may have simply handed Democrats the upper hand heading into a confrontational end-of-the-year negotiation.

The agreement sets up what could be a major fight in December over government funding that is expected to include Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico and his decision to end a program that lets young undocumented immigrants stay in the U.S., as well as perhaps the debt ceiling.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was in the meeting with Trump, didn’t see it coming. Hours before Trump’s deal, he had told reporters that the Democratic proposal for a short-term debt limit deal would be “unworkable” and “ridiculous.”

By late Wednesday, Senate Republicans released a new version of a Harvey aid bill that included the debt ceiling extension and would fund the government through Dec. 8. It also would nearly double the total disaster funding to $15.25 billion from what the House passed earlier in the day. The additional funding would go toward the Community Development Block Grant program to address housing needs in disaster zones.

The actual fight over the debt limit could slip into 2018, since the Treasury Department can usually deploy so-called extraordinary measures to extend its ability to operate. The drop-dead date could come as early as February if tax refund outlays are "relatively high," according to Jefferies economists Ward McCarthy and Thomas Simons.

Trump’s deal with Democrats did soothe the most immediate concerns in the short-term Treasury market, with rates on Treasury bills maturing around the previous late-September debt-limit deadline plunging. But they surged on securities coming due around mid-December, suggesting Wall Street sees more legislative strife ahead.

“All this really means is that while it’s unlikely the U.S. would ever default on Treasury bills, this move today just pushes this risk further out the curve,” said Jerome Schneider, head of the short-term and funding desk at Pacific Investment Management Co., which manages $1.6 trillion in assets.

The White House tried to sell the deal as a way to “clear the decks” for a tax overhaul, as Trump’s legislative director, Marc Short, put it to reporters.

Longer-term Treasuries also declined, suggesting investors saw better prospects that lawmakers will act on measures to spur economic growth.

“The market is pricing in less gridlock in Washington,” said Alex Li, head of rates strategy at Credit Agricole. “The market seems to be suggesting that the administration and congressional leaders are more open now to get something done in terms of the legislative agenda,” including addressing the nation’s tax system.

But conservatives were fuming over the deal, with one senior Republican aide saying that the deal undercut GOP leaders and bolstered the power of Democrats in Congress.

Asked about the compromise, Freedom Caucus member Ted Yoho of Florida said sarcastically, “It’s great to be in the majority.”

"The Pelosi-Schumer-Trump deal is bad," Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said in a statement.

Trump himself might have agreed, at least back in 2013 when he was still considering a run for the White House. He wrote on Twitter then, "The worst negotiators in history (otherwise known as Republicans) have just offered to suspend debt ceiling for four months. Pathetic!"

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to put the best face on the deal while noting that Trump cut it with Democratic leaders.

“The president can speak for himself,” McConnell told reporters. “But his feeling was that we needed to come together, to not create a picture of divisiveness at a time of genuine national crisis.”

Congress is rushing to pass Hurricane Harvey relief funds by the end of the week because the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster-relief fund is set to run out of money Friday as a more powerful storm, Hurricane Irma, bears down on Florida.

The House voted 419-3 on Wednesday to pass $7.85 billion to provide relief to tens of thousands of homeowners from flooding caused by Harvey in Texas and other parts of the Gulf Coast. The measure includes $7.4 billion in FEMA disaster funds and $450 million for the Small Business Administration. Additional FEMA funding is to be provided later, according to House aides.

Shortly after the vote, Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders at the White House. McConnell, Ryan and Mnuchin pushed for adding a debt-limit extension of as long as 18 months to the Harvey bill, according to several people with knowledge of the discussion. A three-month debt-limit deal was the last thing Mnuchin wanted, an administration official said.

But Trump said he wanted a deal, and he accepted the Democrats’ offer of a three-month debt-limit measure, one person said. At that point, McConnell stepped in to say a short-term government spending bill should also be added.

Several leaders of conservative groups said they blamed Republican leaders, not Trump, for the deal to add the debt-limit and spending measures to the House bill. They said McConnell and Ryan hadn’t been able to push forward a conservative plan to raise the debt limit in a measure that cut spending.

“This is going to be very bad for our common goal of fundamental tax reform,” Adam Brandon, president of the conservative FreedomWorks group, told reporters in a conference call. “This deal is straight out of the swamp.”

“I’m a little taken aback by it,” said Representative Mark Walker, the North Carolina Republican who chairs the Republican Study Committee. “Usually you get a heads up” on a major policy decision.

Asked if this deal undercuts Republican leadership’s ability to negotiate with Democrats, Walker replied, “It does.”

Walker said he will present a letter to Ryan on Thursday with a list of policy suggestions that would get more Republicans to support a debt limit deal. It will contain 19 specific suggestions, he said.

Republicans appeared resigned to the notion that the combined measure would likely pass both chambers of Congress, carried by Democratic votes. But a number of Republicans said they would vote against it.

The attempt to tie the Harvey aid passed in the House to the debt limit “is a poison pill & a disservice to those who are suffering,” Representative Richard Hudson of North Carolina tweeted. He said the Senate should pass the House measure without adding more provisions.

The deal still left out a few key priorities that Congress will have to address by the end of the month. Lawmakers still need to pass an authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration so that it can keep operating after Sept. 30. They also have to pass a renewal of the nation’s flood insurance program, a high priority in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.

Democrats, for their part, luxuriated in the unexpected win.

“Today was a good day in a generally very partisan town,” Schumer told reporters. “And let’s hope we can continue to work together for the good of Americans, for the good of the working families who so much need our help.”

— With assistance by Liz McCormick, Elizabeth Stanton, Terrence Dopp, and Steven T. Dennis
President Donald Trump, siding with Democrats, reaches a deal with congressional leaders of both parties to extend the U.S. debt limit and fund the federal government until Dec. 15, as well as provide Harvey disaster relief.