President Donald Trump offers a compromise to Democrats to secure the border
Angel mom Mary Ann Mendoza says Democrats should take the offer.
Senate Republicans scrambled on Saturday evening to put together legislation tracking President Trump’s compromise proposal to end the ongoing partial federal government shutdown, and the text of a bill should be ready on Monday, Fox News has learned.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., indicated to Republican senators on Saturday that he would try to move to start debate on the bill Tuesday. McConnell has frequently been derided by critics for taking on a limited role in negotiations during the shutdown.
Tacked onto the legislation will be supplemental money for disaster relief and extensions on the Violence Against Women Act, Fox News has also learned.
In a televised White House address on Saturday afternoon, Trump offered Democrats a three-year extension of protections for 700,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, in exchange for the $5.7 billion he has been seeking for a barrier along the nation’s southern border with Mexico.
The offered deal would also extend protections for 300,000 recipients of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program — which protects immigrants from designated countries with conditions that prevent nationals from returning safely.
Procedural hurdles would likely prevent the Senate from taking immediate action on legislation that implements Trump’s proposal, however. The motion to proceed to start debate on the bill would require 60 yeas. If Democrats don’t cooperate, McConnell will need to file a cloture motion on Tuesday to cut off debate on the motion to proceed, which would not ripen for a vote until Thursday. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate.
In an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” Vice President Mike Pence, asked whether Republicans have the votes to break a potential filibuster, responded: “As the president often says, ‘We’ll see.”
Vice President Mike Pence on President Trump’s offer to Democrats to end the shutdown stalemate
President Trump offers temporary protection for people brought to U.S. illegally as children in bid to secure border wall funding; Vice President Mike Pence breaks down the proposal on ‘Fox News Sunday.’
There are no guarantees the Republican Caucus will be united, and the Democratic-controlled House appeared poised to reject any legislation following Trump’s proposal.
LAWMAKERS REACT TO TRUMP’S PROPOSED SOLUTION TO BORDER WALL CRISIS
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump’s plan a “a non-starter” before it was even revealed formally. And for his part, Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, called Trump’s proposal “one-sided and ineffective.”
“It’s clear the president realizes that by closing the government and hurting so many American workers and their families, he has put himself and the country in an untenable position,” Schumer said in a statement. “Unfortunately, he keeps putting forward one-sided and ineffective remedies. There’s only one way out: open the government, Mr. President, and then Democrats and Republicans can have a civil discussion and come up with bipartisan solutions.”
Some conservative commentators, including Ann Coulter, have fiercely criticized Trump’s proposal, likening it to “amensty.”
But other Republicans — including sometime Trump critic Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah — on Friday backed Trump’s stance on the partial government shutdown.
“You (Pelosi) and your fellow Democrats have voted for over 600 miles of border fence in the past. Why won’t you vote for another few miles now?” said Romney, speaking in Ogden, Utah, after visiting with officials about the shutdown’s impact on the community. “I don’t understand their position, I really don’t.”
In a series of tweets early Sunday, Trump specifically denied that his compromise plan amounted to “amnesty” for illegal immigrants — although he seemingly left open the door to offering amnesty as part of a “much bigger deal.”
Trump also lashed out at Pelosi amid the stalled negotiations — and took apparent aim at the cleanliness of her district. San Francisco officials have reported a dramatic increase in the presence of feces and syringes on the streets, as the city wrestles with an ongoing homelessness epidemic.
“Nancy Pelosi has behaved so irrationally & has gone so far to the left that she has now officially become a Radical Democrat,” Trump wrote. “She is so petrified of the “lefties” in her party that she has lost control…And by the way, clean up the streets in San Francisco, they are disgusting!”
The president acknowledged he was “still thinking” about Pelosi’s suggestion that the planned Jan. 29 State of the Union address should not occur as planned due to the partial shutdown. Trump later abruptly canceled Pelosi’s planned trip to Afghanistan, just hours before she was set to depart.
“Nancy, I am still thinking about the State of the Union speech, there are so many options — including doing it as per your written offer (made during the Shutdown, security is no problem), and my written acceptance. While a contract is a contract, I’ll get back to you soon!”
Federal workers on Friday are slated to miss their second full paycheck of the shutdown, which is now the longest in the nation’s history. Republicans are hoping to put the ball back in Democrats’ court with a concrete proposal, as public concerns mount about unpaid airport security officials, the processing of tax returns, and the issuance of federal food stamp benefits.
And a House Democratic Caucus meeting was roiled Thursday morning after one representative floated the possibility that the ongoing partial federal government shutdown might affect federal authorities’ ability to secure the upcoming Super Bowl, Fox News has learned.
“That definitely got everyone’s attention,” one House Democrat who asked not to be identified told Fox News after the meeting.
Another lawmaker told Fox News that canceling the Super Bowl — a possibility that officials have not suggested — “would definitely lead to the end of the government shutdown.” The game is set for Feb. 3 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
