Politics & Government
President Trump: 'Good Deals' Reached With Democrats On Debt Limit, Hurricane Harvey
Florida senators asked Congressional leadership to include funding for the looming Hurricane Irma.

WASHINGTON, DC — As a crammed congressional schedule and a new natural disaster threatening to strike the southern coast hang over Washington, bipartisanship made a rare appearance in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump said he's agreed to a "very good" deal to fund the government and increase the nation's borrowing limit for three months as part of an agreement to rush disaster aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey. In the wake of Harvey, the approaching hazards posed by Hurricane Irma and two must-pass fiscal items before the Congress, some had feared the Capitol Hill was heading for a showdown.
For now, at least, a major clash over legislative process appears unlikely. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive free daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)
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SEE ALSO: Hurricane Irma Aims For Florida With Georgia, South Carolina In Its Sights
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the agreement Wednesday after meeting with Trump at the White House.
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Trump told reporters traveling with him aboard Air Force One that "we essentially came to a deal and I think the deal will be very good."
WATCH: Trump: 'Good Deals' Reached On Debt, Harvey
The moves buys almost three months for Washington to try to solve myriad issues, including more funding for defense, immigration, health care and a longer-term increase in the government's borrowing authority.
Trump met earlier at the White House with top House and Senate leaders of both political parties. The deal promises to speed a $7.9 billion Harvey aid bill, which passed the House Wednesday, to Trump's desk before disaster accounts run out later this week.
Many viewed the announcement of the deal as a win for the Democratic leadership team.
Earlier in the day, House Speaker Paul Ryan had dismissed the idea of a three-limit extension of the debt limit as "ridiculous."
"I think that's ridiculous and disgraceful that they want to play politics with the debt ceiling at this moment," he said, "when we have fellow citizens in need to respond to these hurricanes so that we do not strand them."
"Democrats are prepared to offer our votes for the Harvey aid package, and a short term debt limit increase of three months," Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement. "Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan, we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default, while both sides work together to address government funding, DREAMers, and health care.”
Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson said Irma could cause catastrophic destruction throughout the state, and they're concerned that the Federal Emergency Management Agency won't have the resources it needs to respond if Congress doesn't act soon. They called on Congress to include relief money for Irma in the aid package already approved by the House for Harvey.
Their joint, bipartisan letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell notes that FEMA is currently scheduled to run out of money by Friday.
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Cody Fenwick contributed to this report.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images