House and Senate conferees are working through the weekend to arrive at an agreement between the two chambers to fund the rest of the government through 2019 and appease the White House on border security. While many members of congress seem optimistic, an agreement is still in progress but few on Capitol Hill are prepared to take bets on whether Trump will sign the bill.
Assuming that congress passes a bill next week, and it is then sent to the president for signature, Trump has several options available:
- He can sign the bill immediately which will keep the government open.
- He can delay signing the bill for up to 10 days, as provided by the Constitution.
- He can veto the bill which returns it to congress for an override vote.
- He can choose to not sign the bill which may bring a legal fight between the Congress and the White House on whether the bill is law or a pocket veto and therefore, not law.
