Democrats seeking to swiftly pass a $1.7 trillion appropriation bill stumbled Wednesday night as a battle over whether to ease immigration rules swept the Senate floor.
Republicans and Democrats were negotiating a trade-off that would allow partial votes on amendments to a huge appropriation bill in exchange for a Republican agreement that allowed early voting on the bill.
One of these amendments was proposed by Utah Senator Mike Lee to preserve the Title 42 policy that has driven millions of immigrants at the border to limit the spread of COVID-19. I was. The policy is expected to be phased out at any moment, and Republicans, border states and others fear it could make the immigration crisis even worse.
New York State Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been forced to delay work on a $1.7 trillion appropriations bill due to a fight over immigration policy.
(Elizabeth Franz/Pool via AP)
Late Wednesday, Senate Republicans accused Democrats of refusing to vote on Lee’s amendment, allowing it to follow a simple majority vote. Lee said he believes Democrats are concerned about the bill being passed under these circumstances.
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“Title 42 authority is the only thing standing between us and the absolute havoc on the border,” Lee told Fox News. “The Democrats won’t let us do that. Why? Because they fear it will pass.”
Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted, “It is outrageous that Senate Democrats refuse to vote on the @SenMikeLee amendment to extend Title 42’s powers of expulsion.” Republicans in South Carolina said they support the Omnibus appropriations bill, but “not at all costs.”
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Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee is calling for a vote on immigration reform, and Democrats have said they have rejected the request.
(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“If the omnibus to dramatically increase military spending and fund the government fails, Democrats care more about revoking Title 42 than funding the federal government, so be it,” he tweeted. “If this bill fails because Senator Lee was not allowed to vote to extend Title 42, it will be one of the worst points in the history of the U.S. Senate.”
The battle forced Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) to admit that the vote to pass the bill has yet to take place.
“We’re continuing to work toward a vote on the amendments and an agreement to pass the omnibus tonight. We’re not there yet, we’re making progress,” Schumer said.
He also said that without a deal, he would abandon the idea of speeding up the vote in exchange for an amendment, setting a vote by Friday. It’s been delayed, in part because of concerns about an approaching winter storm that makes lawmakers want to go home.
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Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., said the bill could fail on immigration.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnick)
Several senators said the deal could still be bailed out, but the future path was unclear late Wednesday night.
If the deal fails, lawmakers could be urged to swiftly pass short-term appropriations bills for a few weeks. This is something Republicans in the House, in particular, have been pushing. Republicans in the House say that if they take control of the House next year, they will have more influence to shape appropriations bills the way they want.
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That path is $1.7 trillion, including about $45 billion for Ukraine, new funding for disaster relief, a Republican-backed defense budget increase, and a Democrat-backed increase in non-defense items. It could jeopardize some proposals for large bills.
