Inside the GOP’s long-shot gambit to break the shutdown stalemate

Congress

Sen. Lindsey Graham and his allies are pushing to begin a broad immigration debate in the Senate.

A bloc of Senate Republicans is racing to break the impasse over the government shutdown, hoping to jump start bipartisan talks before President Donald Trump declares a national emergency to get his border wall.

GOP senators met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Vice President Mike Pence to pitch their idea: First, the Senate Appropriations Committee will take up legislation meeting the president’s $5.7 billion border wall request. That bill would be open to amendment in the committee and then come to the floor; meanwhile most or all of the shuttered government would be reopened while the Senate begins a broad immigration debate aimed at passing a bipartisan bill.

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The gambit is a long shot. But the group, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), is hoping to end the current dynamic of Trump feuding endlessly with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Graham and his group of senators also have an initial immigration proposal to start the debate, though it’s unlikely to draw any Democratic support. They are suggesting providing temporary protections, renewed every three years, for some young undocumented immigrants and those who came to the country after natural disaster. In exchange, the president would get billions in fencing.

But Graham and his allies argue that’s just a starting point and the Senate would be allowed to work its will and shape the bill to be more amenable to Democrats.

“It comes from the president, he’s made a proposal. Why don’t we do what the Senate does: Take his proposal, have a hearing on it, evaluate the merits of it and amend it in a fashion consistent with the will of the Senate. How about just going back to the way the place works rather than reinventing the wheel?” said Graham, a close Trump ally.

“That’s the best likelihood of success — to have a period of time, not unlimited, but a few weeks’ time, to see if that process could deliver a result,” Graham added.

It’s not clear if either McConnell, Trump or Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) would sign off on the process. But none have ruled it out, according to a source with direct knowledge of the talks, and White House adviser Jared Kushner believes there’s a deal to be made.

Pence has told Republicans the administration does not want a continuing resolution to allow Congress to sort things out, according to a source familiar with the talks.

Graham’s Judiciary Committee would likely take up a piece of an immigration proposal.

“If President [Barack] Obama sent a letter to the Senate saying we’ve got a problem on the border and I need $7.2 billion, I think either the Appropriations and the Judiciary Committee would take it up promptly and we’d consider it,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), a key immigration dealmaker.

Democrats are more skeptical. They all remember the president and his allies ripping up a tentative agreement providing $25 billion in border security in exchange for a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers.

“You saw what happened last time. Trump backed out,” said Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Graham separately has pitched at least one Senate Democrat on a proposal that would deliver about $8 billion in fencing over two years, according to a source familiar with the talks, in exchange for temporary protections for immigrants protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status. Those proposals won’t fly with even the most conservative Democrats.

Though odds for success are long, these Republicans believe it’s better than doing nothing.

“If I didn’t think this was a way out, I wouldn’t be going to this meeting,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) as she walked into McConnell’s office for a meeting with Graham, Shelby, McConnell, Alexander and Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

But left out were Senate Democrats, who have final say over anything that comes up in the Senate due to their filibuster powers. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he’s open to seeking a compromise with Republicans, though he hasn’t been invited to meetings, and neither has Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Graham’s frequent immigration partner.

“I don’t know what his approach is… temporary protections for Dreamers for the wall?” Durbin said, chuckling at the idea. “I hope the Republicans will continue their conversations and reach a point where they join us and reopen the government as quickly as possible. And as far as negotiations beyond that, I’m wide open.”

Eliana Johnson contributed to this report.