Senator Durbin: No government shutdown over budget

[March 19, 2018]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior U.S. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said on Sunday that lawmakers would find a way to pass a budget in time for a Friday deadline to fund government agencies despite disagreement over immigration issues.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) speaks with reporters following the weekly policy luncheons at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

"We're not going to have a shutdown," Durbin, the No. 2 U.S. Senate Democrat, told the "Fox News Sunday" program.

Lawmakers have until Friday to work out how to fund an array of government agencies for the next six months. But their negotiations have been complicated by the immigration issue. Republicans and President Donald Trump are seeking more money for border enforcement proposals that Democrats oppose.

(Reporting by Caren Bohan; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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