By Kristina Peterson, Janet Hook and Natalie Andrews
WASHINGTON -- Congress approved a measure Monday to fund the
government for about three weeks and halt a three-day shutdown,
after Senate Democrats accepted GOP leaders' assurance that they
would bring an immigration bill to the floor in the coming
weeks.
The agreement will keep the federal government running through
Feb. 8, but did little to resolve the underlying policy fights over
immigration and government-spending levels and doesn't preclude a
similar shutdown next month.
The deal also opened a rift in the Democratic Party between a
left flank that wanted to hold out now for an agreement on the
young immigrants known as Dreamers and a more centrist group eager
to reopen the government and work out a bipartisan compromise.
The Senate easily mustered the support needed to cross a 60-vote
threshold on a parliamentary move to advance the legislation, and
then later passed the funding bill itself. Both tallies were 81-18,
with two Republicans joining 15 Democrats and one independent in
opposing the measures.
The House, as expected, then followed suit and approved the
bill, 266-150. President Donald Trump signed the bill Monday night,
effectively ending the shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Monday
morning that if a bill addressing the fate of the young immigrants
and border security hasn't passed by Feb. 8, he intended to bring
an immigration bill to the floor then.
"This immigration debate will have a level playing field at the
outset, and an amendment process that is fair to all sides," Mr.
McConnell said.
In accepting these terms and agreeing to support the short-term
spending bill, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic
leader, said his agreement with Mr. McConnell would provide "a real
pathway to get a bill on the floor."
Still, Mr. Schumer said, the agreement wouldn't likely please
those Democrats who had sought to secure legal protections for the
young immigrants as part of any deal to reopen the government.
"While this procedure will not satisfy everyone on both sides, it
is a way forward," he said.
Mr. Trump kept a low profile as the shutdown fight intensified
over the weekend and drew to an end Monday, after his efforts to
reach a deal with Mr. Schumer on Friday collapsed. But the White
House defended Mr. Trump against Mr. Schumer's assertions that
dealing with Mr. Trump was like "negotiating with Jell-O" and that
the "great deal-making president sat on the sidelines" for much of
the discussions.
"What the president did clearly worked," White House press
secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
In a written statement, Mr. Trump said his administration will
work toward solving "very unfair illegal immigration" and promised
a deal on immigration only if it is good for the country.
In a fundraising email sent under his name with the subject line
"Democrats CAVED," the GOP president struck a more confrontational
tone. The Democratic lawmakers the email blamed for the shutdown
should be fired in the November elections, he wrote.
Lawmakers said Monday that bipartisan negotiations over
immigration would soon resume. Several groups of legislators and
White House officials have been meeting to hammer out a deal
combining protections for the young immigrants with border security
and new limits on family-based immigration and the diversity visa
lottery that admits immigrants from underrepresented countries.
Still, Democrats faced a swift backlash from their party's most
liberal wing that they had capitulated under pressure without
extracting any significant policy concessions from the GOP. In the
wake of Mr. Trump's 2016 upset win, progressive activists have been
pushing the Democratic Party to develop a clearer, more liberal
message and to take an uncompromising approach to Mr. Trump and the
Republicans.
Criticism was particularly harsh from progressive immigration
advocates.
"Last week, I was moved to tears of joy when Democrats stood up
and fought for progressive values and for Dreamers," said Frank
Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, an immigrants-rights
group. "Today, I am moved to tears of disappointment and anger that
Democrats blinked."
In one measure of the pressure from the party's liberal base,
many of the no votes Monday on advancing the legislation to reopen
the government came from Democrats thought to harbor 2020
presidential ambitions. They include Sens. Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of
California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Jeff Merkley of
Oregon.
Another no vote came from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who
ran a strong but unsuccessful bid for the 2016 Democratic
presidential nomination.
Democrats had hoped to use their leverage on spending bills,
which need 60 votes to pass the Senate, to extract legal
protections for immigrants. In September, Mr. Trump had ended a
program advanced by his Democratic predecessor that shielded the
Dreamers from deportation, but Mr. Trump gave Congress until March
5 to pass a replacement. Republicans hold 51 seats in the
Senate.
After Mr. Trump rejected a bipartisan immigration proposal,
Democrats dug in Friday to block a short-term spending bill until
that and other issues were resolved. Congressional leaders are also
working on a two-year budget deal to boost both military and
domestic spending. They also hope to fund disaster aid and
community-health programs.
The spending bill would reauthorize the Children's Health
Insurance Program for six years, a priority for both parties.
Republicans hammered Democrats for yoking the government funding
to what they called "illegal immigration," ratcheting up pressure
on Democrats to reconsider their position. Meanwhile, the
bipartisan group of senators convened repeatedly over the last few
days to try to chart a path out of the gridlock. The group leaned
on Mr. McConnell to provide a firm commitment to bring up an
immigration bill to the Senate floor, regardless of whether it had
Mr. Trump's backing, by early February.
By Sunday night, Mr. McConnell outlined his intention to bring
forward immigration legislation, though he stopped well short of
any ironclad guarantee. After a private meeting Monday morning,
Democrats decided they would accept his offer.
"Today, Republican leadership has finally agreed to bring
bipartisan legislation to protect Dreamers to the floor in the next
three weeks, and both parties -- as well as the American public --
will hold them to it," said the two Democratic senators from
Virginia, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, in a joint statement.
Both had voted against the spending bill on Friday night, but
switched to support it on Monday.
However, many Democrats remained wary of Mr. McConnell's
comments, considering pledges he made last year about other
legislation to GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of
Arizona that have yet to materialize.
"I'm very concerned about that," Mr. Merkley said. "When a
person repeatedly breaks their promises, then I think anyone who
puts too much faith in yet another promise is being foolish."
Even if the Senate can pass a bipartisan bill by next month on
immigration, it is likely to face hurdles in the House unless Mr.
Trump has endorsed it.
"It's got to be a bill that's very strongly supported by
Republicans too or it's just a wasted effort because the House is
never going to pass it, " said Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.). A
sweeping immigration overhaul passed the Senate in 2013, but
collapsed in the face of conservative opposition in the House.
Republicans said Democrats had overplayed their hand by shutting
the government down, particularly since the GOP already has an
incentive to pass legislation protecting the young immigrants, who
enjoy broad public sympathy, before the program ends in March.
"I believe that the Democrats overgamed this," Sen. Richard
Shelby (R., Ala.) said. "I think they gambled and didn't win."
--Siobhan Hughes and Byron Tau contributed to this article.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com, Janet
Hook at janet.hook@wsj.com and Natalie Andrews at
Natalie.Andrews@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 22, 2018 21:37 ET (02:37 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.