WASHINGTON — With government funding in place for only another two weeks, lawmakers are trying to hammer out a spending deal and avoid another government shutdown. 

President Trump, meanwhile, is still warning that any deal must include funding for a border wall. But Democrats in the House offered a border security plan on Wednesday that would not provide a penny for the wall. 

The Democratic offer is just a starting point in House-Senate talks on border security funding that kicked off in a basement room in the Capitol. A top Democrat acknowledged that “everything is on the table,” including the border barriers demanded by Trump. 

Lawmakers on both sides flashed signs of flexibility, eager to demonstrate willingness to compromise in hopes of resolving the standoff with Trump that sparked the just-ended 35-day partial government shutdown.

Still, Trump’s request for $5.7 billion to build about 234 miles of barriers along the U.S. border with Mexico faces uphill odds. Even Trump’s GOP allies acknowledge he may only get a fraction of it. 

The Democratic plan includes new money for customs agents, scanners, aircraft and boats to police the border, and to provide humanitarian assistance for migrants.

Meanwhile, government workers that may be just getting back on their feet are facing the possibility of missing more paychecks in a couple of weeks. 

Republican allies of the president said there will have to be some money to meet Trump’s demands. But they also predict privately that the White House is eager to grab an agreement and declare victory — even if winning only a fraction of Trump’s request.

"The components of border security are people, technology and a barrier. And everybody has voted for all three," said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. "To get to an agreement we’ve got to have all three in there."

Prospects for broadening the scope of the talks to include broader immigration issues such as providing protection against deportation to “Dreamer” immigrants brought illegally to the country as children — or even must-do legislation to increase the government’s borrowing cap — appeared to be fading.

"Smart border security is not overly reliant on physical barriers," House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., adding the Trump administration has failed to demonstrate that physical barriers are cost effective compared with better technology and more personnel.

"It’s just a matter of border security at this moment."

Information from the Associated Press Was used in this report.