Trump backs Senate deal to end the shutdown
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday offered his support for the current Senate-led deal to reopen the government.
Trump asked by reporters in the Oval Office if he would support the deal that passed a procedural hurdle in the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate on Sunday night said: "I would say so because based on everything I'm hearing, they haven't changed anything, and we have support from enough Democrats and we're going to be opening up our country. "
Asked if he would comply with a provision of the deal that calls for rehiring federal workers laid-off during the monthlong shut down, Trump replied: "The deal is very good."
The president repeated his criticism of the push by congressional Democrats to extend soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies, saying Republicans will be working on their own health care reform legislation.
"We want a health care system where we pay the money to the people instead of the insurance companies," Trump said. "I tell you, we're going to be working on that very hard over the next short period of time."
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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