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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Congress and efforts to avert a government shutdown by week's end (all times local):
9:45 a.m.
President Donald Trump says that he hasn't changed his position on building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Trump tweeted Tuesday, "Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc."
Trump told a gathering of around 20 conservative media reporters Monday evening that he would be willing to return to the wall funding issue in September. That's according to two people who were in the room who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the meeting, which was not intended to be on the record.
The border wall money is fiercely opposed by Democrats, and also unpopular with many Republicans. GOP negotiators on Capitol Hill were uneasy about the clash over the wall potentially sparking a government shutdown.
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3:13 a.m.
Bipartisan bargainers are making progress toward a budget deal to prevent a partial federal shutdown this weekend.
A major hurdle was overcome when President Donald Trump signaled he would no longer demand that the current legislation include money to build his border wall with Mexico.
Republicans are also vetting proposed changes to their beleaguered health care bill that they hope will attract enough votes to finally push it through the House.
Both efforts come with Congress back from a two-week break just days before Trump's 100th day in office, an unofficial measuring stick of a new president's effectiveness. With little to show in legislative victories so far, the Trump administration would love to claim achievements on Capitol Hill by that day — this Saturday.
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