By Siobhan Hughes, Kristina Peterson and Natalie Andrews
WASHINGTON -- Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate
were struggling to end a standoff over immigration policy Saturday,
as leaders from both parties tried to gain the upper hand by
blaming one another for a spending impasse that triggered the first
government shutdown in more than four years.
President Donald Trump, who canceled plans to go to his private
resort in Florida this weekend, spoke with both Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R.,
Wis.), a White House aide said, and lawmakers and the Trump
administration engaged in a flurry of conversations through the
day.
Despite the shutdown, which began at 12:01 a.m. Saturday after
the Senate rejected a one-month spending bill that passed the
House, much of the federal government's work continued, as some
departments' operations are deemed essential and some agencies say
they have sufficient funds to carry on operations for a few days,
while lawmakers sort out their differences.
The impasse marked the culmination of an immigration fight with
deep roots on Capitol Hill, one precipitated by Mr. Trump's
September decision to end by March 5 a program that provides
protections for Dreamers, undocumented people brought to the U.S.
illegally as children. Democrats had hoped to use their leverage in
the Senate, where they control enough votes to block Republicans
from passing spending legislation, to force passage of a measure
protecting the Dreamers. Republicans refused, saying Democrats
shouldn't be tying government operations to the immigration
fight.
Frustrated by the deadlock, Mr. McConnell threatened to bring a
bill to the floor on Monday at 1 a.m. as a way to put pressure on
Democrats to yield.
That capped a day of finger-pointing on both sides. In a
closed-door meeting, Mr. Ryan read out headlines from the morning's
newspapers that he said showed Senate Democrats were being held
responsible for the shutdown, according to a person in the
room.
Mr. Ryan told cheering GOP lawmakers that Republicans had been
reasonable while Democrats had overreached and that the minority
party was now seeking a way out, the person said.
Later, on the House floor, Mr. Ryan said "the federal government
is needlessly shut down because of Senate Democrats."
Mr. Trump had been expected to celebrate the first anniversary
of his inauguration at his Mar-a-Lago resort, but chose to remain
in Washington on Saturday. A fundraiser at the resort would go on
despite the president's absence, people familiar with the situation
said.
The status of the president's planned trip to Davos,
Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum was also uncertain,
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said, who
added that it would be considered on a "day to day basis."
Mr. Trump so far hasn't endorsed any specific legislation on the
Dreamers, complicating spending battles that were difficult even
before his presidency. Without a signal from the White House,
Republican leaders are wary of casting difficult immigration votes
without assurances that Mr. Trump will back them up. Democrats have
a similar dilemma, and are reluctant to vote for a spending bill,
thereby giving up their leverage to aid Dreamers, unless Mr. Trump
offers proof he will help the young immigrants soon.
Individual lawmakers stepped into the void, but a variety of
negotiations ended without bearing fruit.
On Friday, Mr. Trump met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer (D., N.Y.) over a cheeseburger lunch. The meeting ended on
a positive note, without any commitments, and Mr. Trump said he
would talk to Republican leaders, according to a person familiar
with the negotiations. But, later in the day, White House chief of
staff John Kelly called Mr. Schumer to say the ideas under
discussion were too liberal.
By Saturday, the finger-pointing became more partisan and
personal. Republicans and administration officials began labeling
the lapse in funding as the "Schumer Shutdown."
On the Senate floor Saturday, Mr. Schumer responded, saying that
"negotiating with President Trump is like negotiating with
Jell-O."
White House congressional liaison Marc Short told reporters
Saturday that the president and Mr. Schumer "had a good
conversation" but that no agreements were made.
But according to Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) Messrs. McConnell
and Schumer on Friday night were close to brokering a deal which
would have funded the government on a short-term basis and provided
that an immigration bill would be attached to must-pass
legislation. The two Senate leaders were meeting when Mr. McConnell
stepped out to take a call from Mr. Ryan, lawmakers said.
Mr. Durbin said later that Democrats want assurances from Mr.
Ryan that any immigration legislation that passed the Senate won't
suffer the fate of similar legislation in 2013, which never got a
vote on the House floor. But Mr. Ryan wouldn't make such an
assurance, drawing criticism from Democrats that he undermined a
potential deal.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Ryan said he was never part of any
negotiations. "Any other blame-casting is just an attempt to
distract from the fact Senate Democrats used the filibuster to shut
down government over a bill they don't oppose," she said.
Despite Mr. Ryan's resistance, the episode showed a potential
path forward in the talks. Some lawmakers believe that passing
immigration legislation through the Senate would put pressure on
House Republican leaders to vote on such a bipartisan measure.
A bipartisan group of senators met late Saturday afternoon to
see if they could line up adequate support for a plan similar to
one that had been under discussion by Messrs. McConnell and Schumer
on Friday night. Asked if more lawmakers were coalescing around the
plan, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), who by evening was shuttling
back and forth between the offices of the two Senate leaders, said
"we're hoping that will be the case."
Under the plan, amendment votes would be permitted. Mr. Graham
had made strides in building support for such an approach on Friday
night, according to Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio). "We came very
close to something that many Democrats felt was reasonable," Mr.
Portman said.
Such a resolution remains possible. A spokesman for Mr.
McConnell said that one possibility "might be to have votes on
multiple bills. But unless the current negotiations fail, that's
still a hypothetical situation."
--Michael C. Bender contributed to this article.
Write to Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com, Kristina
Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and Natalie Andrews at
Natalie.Andrews@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 20, 2018 21:07 ET (02:07 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.