Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday he would keep the chamber on its scheduled break to finalize and vote on a bill that would provide additional aid to Ukraine and bolster U.S. border security.
Schumer (D-NY) announced that he will call the Senate back into session on Monday and hold them “no matter what” until a vote on a supplemental spending package, even though some Republicans scoffed that the Democratic leader’s timetable was a chimera
Negotiators from both parties have been struggling to reach a deal on immigration issues, which Republicans insist is mandatory before approving any additional aid to Ukraine.
“In recent days, negotiations on the path forward for a national security supplement have made good progress,” Schumer told the room.
“If we believe something is important and urgent, we should stay and do the work. That is certainly the case with the supplement.”
Chuck Schumer is delaying winter break in hopes of closing a deal on Ukraine. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
.@SenSchumer (D-NY) on Ukraine and Israel funding: “After we finish today, the Senate will return on Monday. That will give White House negotiators, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans some time to work during over the weekend in an effort to reach a framework agreement.” pic.twitter.com/L2dhKQe5D4
-CSPAN (@cspan) December 14, 2023
Some Republicans were not convinced a deal could be reached before the end of the year because of the complexities of crafting legislative text, even as negotiators touted progress on a framework.
“He’s dreaming,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told CNN of Schumer’s goal of forcing a deal next week.
“I couldn’t care less,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a strong supporter of Ukraine, told Punchbowl News. “I’m looking for results, not schedules. “There is no legislative text.”
Mike Johnson was willing to call the House next week, but he doesn’t want to do so if there’s no deal in sight. REUTERS
On the House side, many lawmakers had already left for their home districts after Thursday morning’s votes, and the chamber would not reconvene until Jan. 9.
Schumer said he had asked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to reconsider his previous opposition to keeping lawmakers in D.C. until the Senate could complete its work on the bill.
“Could we go back?” Johnson said during a Wall Street Journal event on Tuesday: “I would stay here indefinitely, but I don’t know if all of our colleagues will be able to do that.”
Behind the negotiations is a deep divide between Republicans and Democrats over how to address asylum seekers crossing the southwest border.
During fiscal year 2023, more than 2.47 million encounters were reported along the border with Mexico, and more than 240,000 migrants were apprehended in October, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
President Biden increased pressure on Republicans this week to pass a supplemental package on Ukraine. REUTERS
When immigrants apply for asylum at the border, many of them are typically given paperwork for a court date and then released into the United States.
Republicans have pushed for some kind of authority to limit the influx of asylum seekers, angering progressives who believe the United States has a moral obligation to take them in.
The White House recently stepped up its involvement in the negotiations, reportedly sending Chief of Staff Jeff Zients to join discussions led by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.).
The White House has expressed its willingness to have a border authority expel migrants without asylum exams under certain conditions when daily crossing levels are excessively high, the Washington Post reported.
They have also reportedly proposed expanding detention centers and increasing deportations to appease Republicans.
Without confirming the details of the deal, President Biden has publicly indicated that he has already made a compromise offer to Republicans.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded with lawmakers this week to give his war-torn nation more weapons to defend itself against Russian invaders. UKRAINE PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP via Getty Images
That doesn’t seem to sit well with some Democrats.
“It is truly shameful that President Biden and his administration are considering selling out immigrants and asylum seekers to placate extremist Republicans who are endangering our national security and that of our allies just to score a political point,” he recently charged. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) fumed in a statement Tuesday.
“Us [Democrats] We have to form a coalition. [for the 2024 election]Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told CNN on Thursday. “That coalition involves a lot of young voters. It involves many immigrant voters and people of color. “This issue of immigration is of vital importance to them.”
Still, lawmakers close to the negotiations insist that progress has been made.
“We can see the deal. We have a long way to go to get there. But I can see it,” Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) told Politico on Thursday.
“They actually talk about picking up the pen and writing the words. So it’s that close,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told Punchbowl News.
Chris Murphy is one of the lead negotiators trying to reach a deal on the border, a sticking point in deliberations over Ukraine. Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock
Schumer himself admitted that this “might be one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to overcome,” but added that “we have to do it.”
Lankford said he will “keep working as long as it is daylight,” but doubted the chances of reaching a deal soon given the “incredibly technical” nature of immigration law.
“At this point, if things don’t go well very, very quickly, this moves to January,” he told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
The Oklahoma Republican added that “the White House so far has not been willing to put things in writing.”
Biden initially asked Congress to greenlight Ukraine for $24 billion in August. Congress refused to do so amid a bitter Republican civil war in the House of Representatives over government funding.
James Lankford, a top Republican negotiator, warned that it will be difficult to draft the technical language of a deal before Christmas. AP
Then in October, Biden raised the price tag to more than $106 billion on a package that includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine as well as funding for Israel, Taiwan and the border.
This week, he warned Republicans that failing to approve the supplement would be a “Christmas gift” to Putin.
So far, Congress has approved about $113 billion in military and humanitarian aid for the war-torn Eastern European country, but not all of that money has yet been spent.
The administration announced a $200 million military aid package to Ukraine this week, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky privately told lawmakers earlier this week that aid to Ukraine likely won’t be completely exhausted until February.
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