Senate Majority Leader, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, stated on Sunday that he will bring up the immigration legislation next month should negotiators from both parties fail to find a common ground and present a working deal by February 8.
“Should these issues not be resolved by the time the funding bill before us expires on February 8, 2018, assuming the government remains open, it would be my intention to proceed to legislation that would address DACA, border security and related issues,” McConnell commented Sunday night, pointing to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The Obama-era program, which allows certain immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally as children to work and go to school here, has been at the center of the shutdown talks. President Trump is ending the program, arguing former President Barack Obama did not have the authority to create it.
Senator McConnell also made remarks that he expects to win not only the immigration fight, but also the unrelated issues that raised discussions on disaster relief, health care and the budget caps, finished “as quickly as possible.”
According to The Hill, McConnell’s announcement comes as a bipartisan group of senators met on Sunday to discuss a possible path to getting 60 votes for a government funding bill. The bill would include the GOP leader making a commitment to move to immigration if they weren’t able to get a larger deal by February 8.
The group of senators was not able to break the snarl when McConnell attempted to set up a vote on Sunday night, which Minority Leader Charles Schumer objected. McConnell then set up the vote for Monday noon.
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