WASHINGTON – The two top senators negotiating an immigration deal warned Monday that the clock is ticking and they may not be able to reach an agreement this week before the Senate adjourns for the year.
That means President Joe Biden’s aid package to Ukraine and Israel could be in jeopardy, and the debate could slip into an election year, making it even harder to reach a bipartisan deal.
Senator James Lankford, R-Okla, who is leading the discussions for Republicans, said he still believed negotiators were “making progress” but warned that “every day” that goes by without a deal “makes it more complicated” to reach one.
“There’s no way to get it done this week,” Lankford said in an interview. “The question is, do we stay in next week or does this actually move into early January to be able to resolve it? That’s a big unknown at this point, and that depends on how the negotiations actually go and how we actually work through it to get a text that actually works.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a Biden ally who is leading the negotiations for Democrats, has expressed frustration with the GOP demands, calling them extreme and implausible. He said there “can be a way” if Republicans revise their approach based on what can realistically pass Congress with bipartisan support.
“Obviously, we don’t have the luxury of time right now,” he said.
Asked if the Senate could complete a deal this week, Murphy said: “I’ve seen stranger things happen in the Senate. But this certainly seems like an uphill climb – but not impossible.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to speak to senators and meet with Chairman Mike Johnson, R-La., who has backed GOP demands to block Ukraine aid unless Congress pairs it with tougher immigration and asylum laws.
“He’s preaching to the converted as far as I’m concerned. So I don’t know what the point is,” said Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas. “I don’t know what the purpose is, but obviously we’d be happy to listen to what he has to say.”
Senate Republicans proved last week that they were unwilling to debate a bill to provide aid to Ukraine and Israel without immigration restrictions when all 49 of them filibustered the package. Wednesday’s failed vote reignited negotiations that had previously stalled. Murphy and Lankford huddled with Senator Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., for about an hour on Thursday, a source said.
But there was no breakthrough in the negotiations, the senators said.
Lankford said he’s happy to hear what Zelenskyy has to say, “but hearing their national security issues also reminds us of our national security issues. Frankly, we’re not going to go help other countries and not look at what’s really going on in the United States.
Sources with knowledge of the negotiations say Democrats have been willing to make concessions on tightening asylum rules, but talks have stalled over GOP demands to curb presidential powers to use “parole” to temporarily admit asylum seekers. Democrats fear the parole reform proposals would force mass detentions and deportations, which they consider cruel.
The House and Senate are scheduled to leave town for the holidays in just three days, leaving little time to resolve a series of thorny issues that have bedevilled Congress for years. They could cancel part or all of the recess to continue working on them, but that’s unlikely unless they’re close to a deal they can vote on.
Even if the Democratic-led Senate reaches a deal, there’s no guarantee it will be approved by the Republican-controlled House, where hard-line conservatives are making demands that Democrats say are non-starters.
“Hopefully the House is willing to stay if we can get a deal,” Murphy said. “Hopefully the House is willing to stay and work through whatever the Senate can move, but that’s their decision.”
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Congress should stay in town until it reaches an agreement.
“I want to see a reason why we should leave. That means they don’t have the concerns that we have with Ukraine,” he said, referring to the country’s ability to defend itself against Russia. “I still have those concerns, very much. We should stay and get it done.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., dismissed the need for a briefing on Ukraine from Zelenskyy, saying senators were well aware of the situation. “I think it hurts that they’re dragging him into a domestic debate,” Graham said. “If they had asked me, I would have said don’t do that.”
Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said she also wanted to hear from Zelenskyy a plan for “how they intend to win this war” and what Ukraine needs from the US to do so.
“And then, in terms of moving the package forward, it has to have a border policy, and the president knows that,” she said. “I’ve had so many Democrats, both in the House and the Senate, who have said, ‘This would make our election a lot easier if the president would just move forward on border policy.’ So there are a lot of people who really think we need to get border policy done.”
