By registering, you agree to receive emails or alerts from POLITICO.You can unsubscribe at any time. [19659011] But Democrats say that they have no reason to think that this week's talks will end differently than what they've been in the past According to interviews with more than half a dozen Democrats in the House and Senate. And Democratic leaders – forced by an aggressive left wing within the party – are not in the mood to try to reach a broad agreement on immigration, as in previous negotiations.
Previously, they had offered up to $ 25 billion for the Trump Border Wall. exchange to protect 1.7 million undocumented immigrant youth from deportation. It's not on the table anymore.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.) said about such a trade these days: "I will not support it."
"We said we would finance the wall in exchange for the measures taken to remedy to the problems of dreamers and immigration. He said "well," then he came back, "said Shaheen.
" I understand their concerns, "said Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), a close friend of Trump who had been nil by the White House earlier in the year, year in the immigration negotiations. "It is more difficult here now .We had two or three stops and debut with immigration. "
Schumer and Pelosi have been trying to project unity in recent days, claiming that they would not give Trump the $ 5 billion that he was asking for and that he was calling for keep the Department of Homeland Security. spending at current levels to keep government open.
But even if the Democratic leaders seek to avoid a stop, they do not have complete freedom of maneuver.
Pelosi strives to win 218 Democratic votes for his speaker made an offer and can not afford to alienate a left wing emboldened by his caucus Schumer, too, is trying to eliminate the critics on his negotiating record the Liberals who think that he should not spend anything on the president on a border fence, even though Congress had released more than a billion dollars last year .
Pelosi recently announced her position in the latest remarks, saying that she wanted to press the debate in its entirety with a restrictive bill on funding homeland security.
In a way, Pelosi negotiates with Trump as much as she is with her own caucus. The California Democrat is only a few weeks away from the end of the president's term, but he has not yet obtained the number of votes.
Pelosi knows she can not be perceived by her caucus as an acquiescence to Trump. This could anger many Democrats she was counting on to speak to, a group that includes new freshmen who want to completely abolish some immigration control programs.
Pelosi supporters are confident in his position and claiming that the long-standing Democratic party. The leader knows that there is "no compromise" with the president on his wall.
"I do not think she would agree [additional wall funding]," said representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). "I think her support is due to the fact that people believe that she understands the limits beyond which we can not compromise."
Meanwhile, Schumer has approved a bipartite bill from the Senate and providing $ 1.6 billion to "fence" along the border. . Democrats in the House oppose the Senate bill despite the fact that many have voted for similar, albeit less, early-year funding for border security.
Rep. Filemon Vela of Texas, one of the more than a dozen Democrats who oppose the candidacy of Pelosi's president, has harshly criticized the California Democrat in the past, but trusts Pelosi much more than Schumer in his discussions with Trump.
Conspiracy of the City of York, and Schumer is about to give Trump his third installment on the wall, "Vela said.
While Republicans in the House could potentially muster enough votes to pass a government funding agreement, GOP leaders in the Senate will need at least a handful of Democrats to succeed at anything; which will give Schumer considerable weight in the financing talks.
"The position in this meeting only makes sense if it and those of us who oppose the Wall's funding can make sure to bring in all the other Democrats "said Vela. "You might as well call it the Schumer-Trump wall in my opinion."
Democrats in the Senate who know Schumer well said that the Democrats in the House were muddling the Senate leader.
"I would like to challenge the fact that there are a lot of relationships with President Trump," said Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland about the current dynamics of Schumer-Trump.
Of course, he is ready to talk to Trump, but the idea that the fix has come in and that Schumer will support the liberals to help the president is pure fiction, they say.
"Schumer is a person who, if it does not happen not going well today, will rise again tomorrow and will say to himself: "Is there a way to follow? "So he will not let the president tweet anything negative, make him crazy and keep a grudge," said Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.).
But Kaine questions the idea that there is even an agreement to be made with Trump: "For him, immigration involves shaking a bloody shirt before If there is an agreement, what will he be able to talk about? "
But a decisive breakthrough is to be able to get around the Christmas closure – about a quarter of government members will close their doors on December 21 in the absence of a funding agreement Even if Republicans and congressional Democrats would probably be able to avoid themselves, Trump must sign any bill. A long confrontation.
At his meetings with the Republicans, he made it clear that He was asking for $ 5 billion for the border wall, which could boost his re-election efforts by holding one of his main campaign promises. "We have essentially worked on most of our financing. The biggest party. With the exception of the cornerstone, "said Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Senate Speaker in charge of the credits, about the financing at the border. "And that's the difference between the Democrats and the President."
The president sang over the wall during an appearance in Kansas City on Friday, stating that "it will be better than anyone else to have ever been seen" when he will build it. . But to do that, he needs a lame Congress that rallies behind him, with a majority of House of Representatives and Democrats in the process of preventing Trump from winning victories.
million. Vela said the time had come for his party to "draw a line in the sand".
"It was time to send a message to Trump, it is now," he said.
Rebecca Morin contributed to the writing of this report.
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