US lawmakers agree on budget deal 'in principle'

By Michael Hernandez</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – House and Senate negotiators announced Monday night they have agreed &quot;in principle&quot; to a deal to avoid another partial government shutdown.</p> <p>The top four congressional appropriators — Sens. Richard Shelby and Patrick Leahy and Reps. Nita Lowey and Kay Granger — announced the agreement following a rapid succession of talks ahead of Friday's deadline to ensure that many government agencies can continue to operate. </p> <p>&quot;We’ve had a good evening. We’ve reached an agreement in principle between us on the Homeland Security and the other six bills,&quot; Shelby told reporters. </p> <p>Details on the agreement have yet to be officially released, but reports have pegged the funding the bill will include for President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall at $1.375 billion. That falls far short of the $5.7 billion he had been seeking for the barrier and is highly likely to draw his ire if confirmed. </p> <p>Democrats appeared to have dropped their demand to cap the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention beds in a bid to restrict the number of people who can be detained at ICE facilities at a time. But it is unclear how many beds, in total, the lawmakers agreed to fund. </p> <p>The breakneck negotiations follow the longest shutdown in U.S. history as Trump continues to insist that Congress provide him the funds he wants to build the separation barrier. </p> <p>