Lawmakers working toward a bipartisan agreement to pass additional border security measures and guarantee protections for nearly 700,000 unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as children are preparing for the White House to get involved in the debate, after the administration announced Wednesday night that President Donald Trump would release a framework of his goals for such a deal next week.
Congress has struggled to find a path forward to address the issue since Trump announced he would allow the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to expire on March 5, but with just two weeks remaining until a short-term government funding package expires, lawmakers are ramping up their efforts to find a solution that could be included in the next must-pass spending bill.
Trump will weigh in on the contentious debate Monday by releasing a legislative framework to “fulfill the four agreed-upon pillars: securing the border and closing legal loopholes; ending extended-family chain migration; cancelling the visa lottery, and providing a permanent solution on DACA,” according to the White House.
Colorado Republican Cory Gardner, a member of a large group of senators who are holding informal meetings to work through a DACA fix, said on his way to votes Thursday that he welcomes feedback from the White House.
“It’s important to know where everyone is,” Gardner explained.
Alabama Democrat Doug Jones agreed, telling TWS he expects additional clarity from the White House to be helpful in reaching a solution. But other Democrats, such as Chris Coons, suggested Trump embrace a laissez faire approach in the same way he did during last weekend’s government shutdown.
“If the president wants to be constructive, he should either stay out of this process and let the Senate be the Senate … or take a clear position, but not change it within a matter of hours,” said Coons.
Trump has wavered on the policy details of the debate, leading Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to compare negotiating with the commander in chief to trying to nail Jello to a tree. Congressional Republicans have asked for more clarity from the White House, as there appears to be a divide between the policies Trump is willing to accept and the more hardline policies touted by his aides.
“When the president stands for very different things within a matter of hours or days, that makes it very difficult for there to be a functional, deliberative process,” Coons added.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday night, Trump endorsed a 10- to 12-year path to citizenship for Dreamers, a centerpiece of the bipartisan proposal introduced by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin, which the White House previously shot down for not being conservative enough.
Moderate Republican Susan Collins said she was encouraged by Trump’s openness to a similar path to citizenship policy. Several Democrats pointed to his remarks as a positive development, as well.
But Coons told reporters Thursday that he has gotten the impression Trump’s aides are already walking back that position in favor of a more conservative stance.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters earlier this week that a more conservative bill in the House sponsored by judiciary committee chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte “addresses the principles” the White House has laid out. But that bill is partisan and would have slim chances in the Senate, where Republicans need Democratic support to reach a 60-vote threshold for passage.
If Trump’s legislative framework is similar to the Goodlatte bill, it could make the task of passing a bill through Congress more challenging. Congressional leaders are walking a tightrope, and support among House Republicans could be lacking if Trump shoots down a bipartisan Senate deal.
Asked whether Trump’s proposal, if it winds up being too conservative for the Senate to swallow, could sour ongoing bipartisan talks, Gardner was an optimist.
“I don’t think, if we’re committed to finding a solution, that anything is going to blow things up,” he answered. “We can’t let that happen. It’s too important.”
