Senate Republicans have the ambitious goal of jamming through funding boosts for defense and border security — separately from the appropriations process — ahead of a mid-March deadline to prevent a government shutdown.

Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said this week that he told President Trump “it would be really helpful if we could give him the money for the border plan for four years before March 14.”

“It’d be really helpful if we had $150 billion of new money before March 14, because the discussions about funding the government are dramatically different,” he told The Hill. “And I think he buys into that.”

The strategy could help GOP lawmakers secure more leverage in funding talks, as Republicans have sought lower levels for nondefense programs, while Democrats have demanded parity in increases to both defense and nondefense spending.

But Republicans face enormous hurdles in moving such a plan out of Congress, despite controlling both chambers, as GOP leaders clash over how to advance key parts of Trump’s tax, defense and border agenda.

Republicans would move the border and defense money through a process known as reconciliation, which would allow them to bypass the 60-vote threshold normally needed to move bills in the Senate. But reconciliation is a lengthy and complicated process,........

© The Hill