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RRepublicans and Democrats are preparing for an election campaign after the ballot on funding a border wall to the south.
President Trump has made the construction of a wall along the Mexican border a major campaign promise and he has become impatient with the Republicans, who run both chambers but still have to pass legislation providing for more money. a fraction of the billions it would cost to complete it.
Republicans have now pledged wall funding for the lame duck session when Congress returns about a week after the November 6 mid-term elections.
"We are really going to try to get the money that the president would like this year for the border wall," McConnell said. Washington Examiner Thursday.
It may be their last chance.
Polls show that the majority of the GOP in the Senate is relatively safe, but the Republican-led House is gravely threatened by dozens of GOP seats that are about to be picked up by the Democrats.
If the Democrats win the House, there will only be a few weeks left for the Republicans to control both houses.
When legislators return from the election break, Senate Republicans will insist that an additional $ 5 billion be added to the planned Domestic Security Vote for FY 2019. This figure is consistent with passed by the House, but far exceeds the $ 1.6 billion included in the two-party Senate measure.
This is a significant change for the Senate government, which in the last two budget cycles was willing to settle for $ 1.6 billion a year for border-wall construction.
McConnell will face opposition from Democrats who strongly oppose substantial Wall funding.
Democrats say that a wall of the southern border is useless and a waste of money. They talk about the annual budget process and argue that the president is asking for spending well beyond what is needed to keep pace with construction.
"It's more than they can reasonably spend in a year," said Senate minority whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill, on Thursday.
Both parties have time to bicker a few weeks before finding a solution.
Domestic Security funding runs out in mid-December and ends with several other federal spending bills that fund the Ministries of Education, Labor, Health and Social Services and other.
If both parties can not reach an agreement before the December deadline, about 25% of federal funding would be used.
Republicans want to avoid a confrontation of spending, which could hurt their party and be poorly perceived in the polls.
Senate Republicans can not simply raise funding for the wall and pass it with their own majority. Senate rules require 60 votes for most laws to be passed. This means that at least nine Democrats will be needed to move the spending legislation on the finish line.
Democrats think they have the most weight. If they refuse to vote for a spending bill with significant funding, the party will simply blame the majority of the GOP for any funding disruption.
"I do not think Republicans can boast of a closure because they're in charge," Durbin said.
Some Republicans offer solutions.
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said that the Senate should withdraw funding from the wall of negotiations for spending for the 2019 fiscal year and include it instead in a budget resolution in which particular rules of procedure would allow him to adopt with 51 votes.
Republicans have used a similar procedure to pass tax cuts in 2017 without a single vote of Democrats.
"It would be a budget reconciliation for the next fiscal year," said Cruz. "The same legislative procedure we used to reduce taxes, we can and should use to build the wall."
Other legislators are optimistic that both parties can reach an agreement on financing walls by including sweeteners that may interest the Democrats.
Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C, said the Democrats could be convinced to increase the funding of the wall if the Republicans accepted a measure legalizing the so-called Dreamers, illegally arrived in the United States while in the United States. they were children.
They were allowed to obtain work permits and remained in the United States under the Obama's rule on deferred action for child arrivals, or DACA. But DACA has been challenged in court and Republicans believe it's an override of executive power, which has left the Dreamers in limbo.
Republicans and Democrats in both houses have tried half a dozen times to legislate to solve border security issues and find a solution for the dreamers, but every move was rejected.
Graham, author of several comprehensive immigration reform measures, believes that year-end spending negotiations could facilitate the conclusion of an agreement.
"I think there is an agreement to be made for funding the wall and doing something with DACA," Graham Graham said Thursday. "I've always believed that. It seems logical to me. "
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