Deal or no deal, will there be a government shutdown?
Garrett Tenney reports from Washington, D.C.
It’s time for Republicans in the U.S. House to take decisive action without delay on the issues of immigration reform and government funding that will prevent a government shutdown Friday night.
The House should debate and vote on a two-year budget bill backed by the White House that increases military funding. It should do the same on the Securing America’s Future Act introduced by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.
As the immigration and budget negotiations unfold, the conservative majority in the House should not sit idly by and play victim.
Over the past year, the Democrats have shown no genuine interest in working with President Trump or the Republican majority in Congress on any issue. The truth is that the Democrats desperately want a government shutdown.
Over the past year, the Democrats have shown no genuine interest in working with President Trump or the Republican majority in Congress on any issue. The truth is that the Democrats desperately want a government shutdown.
Anyone who thinks that top congressional Democrats – Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, House Minority Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois – are negotiating in good faith on immigration or the budget should take a mental health test.
The delusional obstructionists in charge of the Democratic Party have no problem with allowing our military to twist in the wind if they don’t get the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) fix that they want on their terms. Everyone in America knows that’s not how negotiating works.
Citizens who reside in states represented by Democratic Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Jon Tester on Montana, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Sherrod Brown of Ohio – and other Democrats who are on the ballot this year – fully understand that the position of Washington liberals on DACA is out of touch with reality.
The DACA program was created by an executive order issued by President Obama in 2012 and allows about 700,000 illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to temporarily remain in the country. President Trump has said he will end the program in March unless Congress passes legislation to continue it, coupled with immigration reforms and more funding for border security.
Now it’s time for Republicans to move forward without the Democrats. The American people want the issues of immigration and the budget resolved and President Trump was put in charge to handle it.
The Goodlatte bill is a reasonable place to start.
On the security side, the Goodlatte legislation funds the wall along our southern border that President Trump has promised to build; gets rid of the visa diversity lottery that admits 55,000 immigrants to the U.S. each year from nations with low rates of immigration to our country; ends chain migration, which allows legal immigrants to sponsor relatives to also come to the U.S. legally; and cracks down on illegal immigrant criminals and sanctuary cities.
In addition, under the Goodlatte bill DACA recipients would not be deported. They would get temporary legal status that could be renewed every three years.
The Democrats should take this deal. Unfortunately, it appears that political scare tactics are more important than solutions to Pelosi, Schumer and their colleagues.
For conservatives, the Goodlatte bill is leaps and bounds better than anything that the U.S. Senate will come up with – but time is of the essence. Allowing the Senate to act first on immigration will not have a desirable result for any American who is serious about border security.
Democrats want a DACA fix included in the government funding bill here and now. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. R-Calif., can give them what they want. Democrats can vote for the DACA fix put forward in the Goodlatte bill or vote against it. They can vote to fund our military or they can vote to shut the government down.
Once the House passes the immigration and spending package that reflects the wishes of the American people who put them in power, the Senate should consider the legislation as passed.
If no Democrats who represent states that President Trump carried are willing to buck their leadership and support the bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., should suspend filibuster rules for this critical matter and move forward by passing the bill with a simple majority.
Let’s be honest. If and when the Democrats return to the majority at some point in the future, the filibuster will be a thing of the past for every issue. Republicans should acknowledge this reality and remove the 60-vote threshold for issues in which the Democrats refuse to give an inch.
President Trump supports strong immigration and national security provisions and does not want there to be a government shutdown. Most Republicans in Congress concur.
Chairman Goodlatte has introduced an immigration compromise bill that both sides should agree on. Republican congressional leadership should attach it to a responsible two-year government funding bill that the majority party supports and send it to President Trump for his signature.
If the Democrats don’t want to participate, Republicans must move forward without them. The American people want members of Congress to spend less time focusing on their own political fights and more time solving important problems.
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