Article snippet: Congress is barreling toward a deadline to prevent a partial government shutdown. Negotiators say they don’t want to kick the funding fight to next year, but lawmakers will have just 10 scheduled work days to strike a deal by the Dec. 7 deadline. Significant political clashes are shadowing the funding battle. Republicans are losing power in the House and want to finish the bill while they have the majority. {monads}House Minority Leader MORE (D-Calif.) is locked in a battle for the Speakership, which could make it tougher for her to compromise. Here are five areas to watch. Border wall The fight over Trump’s signature issue is the biggest threat to government funding. The House’s homeland security bill would provide $5 billion for the border including funding for technology and new fencing, compared with $1.6 billion in the Senate’s version of the legislation — the same amount the administration got for the 2018 fiscal year. Senate Republicans are hoping they can negotiate a boost for the administration. But they are also managing expectations. Sen. MORE (R-Ky.) want to avoid a shutdown and Trump “seemed” to agree with them. But they’ve yet to settle on a figure with Democrats. Shelby said Republicans didn’t discuss numbers with Trump and predicted negotiating would begin in earnest after the Thanksgiving recess. Democrats, while stressing they support border security, have appeared skeptical of budging on border money without securing a larger immigration deal.... Link to the full article to read more