Trump heads into tough week with budget, health care battles

US President Donald Trump looks up while hosting a House and Senate leadership lunch at the White House in Washington, US March 1, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

The symbolic 100-day mark for the administration is Saturday — the same day government could shut down without a budget deal. Trump has announced a rally in Pennsylvania that day.

Aides stressed on Sunday talk shows that funding a wall along the US-Mexican border and a vote on an effort to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care law were priorities. But they also expressed optimism that a shutdown could be avoided.

"I don't think anyone foresees or expects or would want a shutdown," said budget director Mick Mulvaney on "Fox News Sunday."Trump would like to revive a failed effort by House Republicans to replace the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare." He also hopes to use a $1 trillion catchall spending bill to salvage victories on his promised US-Mexico border wall, a multibillion-dollar down payment on a Pentagon buildup, and perhaps a crackdown on cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement by federal authorities.

But so far, negotiations have proven difficult, with disputes over the border wall and health law subsidies to help low-income people afford health insurance. House members received little information from leaders on a conference call Saturday. A one- or two-week extension might be needed to prevent a shutdown.

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he believes the spending bill will include "something satisfactory" to reflect Trump's desire to build a wall. The legislation would keep the government running through Sept. 30, the end of the budget year.

"We expect the priorities of the president to be reflected," Priebus said, citing ongoing talks with the House and the Senate. He added that "it'll be enough ... to move forward either with construction or the planning, enough for us to move forward through the end of September, to get going on the border wall and border security."House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California described a border wall as "immoral" and "expensive" when asked if there was any scenario in which Democrats will agree to money for a wall to avoid a shutdown.