Senate Democrats are digging in to oppose a stopgap spending bill that would avert a government shutdown Friday, convinced they’ve got the upper hand in the budget battle and can force a deal to save “Dreamers” from deportation.
The Republican majorities in the House and Senate are advancing the stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR, that would give lawmakers 28 days to finalize the budget and fix the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA program that is providing temporary deportation amnesty.
“CRs are a waste of time,” a top aide to Senate Democratic leadership said Wednesday.
Democrats instead want a vote on the bipartisan Gang of Six deal to fix DACA that President Trump rejected last week.
Mr. Trump balked that the bill from Gang of Six leaders Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, and Senate Minority White Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, gave Democrats everything they want for DACA but came up short on border security and tightening immigration laws.
The Graham-Durbin bill will be introduced Wednesday, Mr. Durbin said.
“There’s only one bipartisan agreement before us. It will be introduced in the Senate today,” he told reporters at the Capitol.
The Graham-Durbin bill narrowly adheres to the president’s benchmarks for a deal, said the aide, anything larger would require comprehensive immigration reform, including amnesty for many more illegal immigrants than the Dreamers who arrived in the U.S. as children or teenagers.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, have said they will not put the deal on the floor for a vote because the president rejected it.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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