With just a few legislative days remaining to reach a grand but elusive spending and immigration deal with Democrats, GOP leaders are warning another stopgap spending bill may be needed to keep the government fully operational beyond a Jan. 19 deadline.
“Right now the Democrats are holding the whole spending bill hostage for a DACA solution,” Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Monday, referring to the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that allows young people who arrived here illegally as children to stay in the United States.
The two measures are on separate negotiation tracks, in part because the DACA program doesn’t expire until March 5. But Democrats are threatening to vote against a must-pass government funding bill unless the Senate agrees to an immigration bill that meets their terms.
Cornyn said passing a third 2018 stopgap bill, or continuing resolution, may be all the two parties can agree on by the end of next week because of the significant and numerous disagreements.
“That’s kind of where we are,” Cornyn said. “We may not be able to meet that deadline. We may be looking at another CR.”
Cornyn’s warning comes a day before a group of about 20 Republican and Democratic lawmakers from both chambers are slated to meet with White House officials about a grand bargain on immigration that trades legalizing the so-called Dreamers who participate in the DACA program in exchange for border security that includes at least some funding for a border wall, and other immigration changes.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., defined the red lines for each party in a hallway interview with reporters late Monday.
“So, the wall is a necessary part of this deal because President Trump campaigned on it,” Graham said. “A pathway to citizenship (for the Dreamers) is the wall for the Democrats. There is not going to be a big deal that does not have a pathway to citizenship for the DACA population. There is not going to be a deal that does not have strong border security.”
Graham also wants changes to the visa lottery program, while others are seeking reforms to chain migration policies, which allow those here legally to bring relatives into the United States.
President Trump, who met with GOP lawmakers on the matter last week, has been clear with Republicans about what kind of deal he is seeking, Graham said.
“He has been very refreshing,” Graham said. “He said, I want to get a deal. I’ve got nothing against these kids. I just want to get my wall.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said tomorrow’s White House meeting will include a broader group of lawmakers than just the small group of bipartisan negotiators who have been working on a deal behind closed doors for a few weeks.
“Tomorrow is really a major meeting because it is a meeting of the broader groups on both sides,” Tillis said. “Now we are at a point where we are opening the aperture to all the stakeholders, some that have taken a more aggressive, conservative approach and some that are taking a liberal approach and those trying to bridge the gap.”
The major sticking point has been the wall and border security funding, which is the biggest obstacle to a deal, Republicans said.
“What’s preventing that from happening is the Democrats are being unrealistic about the idea of having any kind of border security measures included in that deal,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said.
Democrats were sticking to their opposition on Monday night.
“I am opposed to the funding for a wall,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said. Markey hinted he might vote against the government funding bill if the separate immigration measure includes border wall money, but is holding out on a final decision until the entire deal is complete.
The president last year asked for $1.6 billion for a border wall system to be included in the fiscal 2018 spending measure and told lawmakers last week he is seeking a total of $18 billion over 10 years to augment the wall and reinforce other areas of the border.
Wall funding will be included in a final deal, Graham said.
“The question is, how much and how costly,” Graham said. “That’s all subject to negotiation.”
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who is involved in the talks, said both sides should steer away from trying to accomplish major immigration reform, which could take months.
Republicans, he said, should drop the idea of trying to change chain migration policy except for how it is used by the narrower group of DACA participants, he said.
“We can deal with chain migration as it relates to the parents of the kids, but not writ large,” Flake said. “You can’t do that tin the short time frame that we have.”
Republicans and Democrats have major disagreements on spending that go beyond the immigration standoff and have slowed down negotiations on the fiscal 2018 government funding bill.
Republicans want to boost federal spending caps with a higher ration of funding for defense, while Democrats insist both defense and domestic budgets receive equal increases.
Graham said if there is no final deal on immigration and spending, the Senate is weighing a backup plan to extend the DACA program for one year.
“But with no permanent changes,” Graham said. “And that would be a loss to me.”
Democrats won’t like it either, he added.
“I don’t think Democrats are going to help themselves if they let this opportunity go,” Graham said.
Al Weaver contributed to this report
