The restrictions at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue indicate the White House is still hopeful a deal can be reached.
On the Hill, negotiators spent a frantic day trying to salvage the talks after it was reported Wednesday evening that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is bowing to Trump’s desires to dissolve a border deal.
The next day, McConnell clarified that he still supported continued border security tied to Ukraine funding, although he and other senior Republicans were unable to entirely quell rumors that a deal was on his deathbed.
On Thursday evening, Trump issued a statement saying the nation “better not make a deal” unless it is “perfect,” and he called the Senate’s current efforts “meaningless.”
“A border deal would be another gift for radical left Democrats. They need it politically, but don’t care about our border,” he said.
Democrats were quick to accuse Trump of trying to perpetuate a crisis at the border for political gain in the election. Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison criticized Trump and Republicans earlier Thursday for “sabotageing efforts to resolve problems at the border.” The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee says Senate Republicans are “rejecting” a border deal for political reasons.
But the White House has not joined the chorus.
Privately, officials said they felt it was too early — and would be unwise — to jump into the fray. They closely followed reports about what exactly McConnell said inside the room. Still hoping for a deal in the Senate, officials reasoned that any political response from them would be exploited by Republicans to scuttle any remaining chance of reaching a deal.
“We think we need to act at the border. We must come together on a common-sense compromise on border measures, border policy and border resources,” Dalton said. “And we still hope that can happen.” »
The months-long border negotiations have been a headache for the White House. The administration has tried to find common ground between Republicans and Democrats as the border faces record pressure and cities across the country struggle to handle an influx of migrants.
The election year schedule only complicates matters, with Trump now looking like a surefire Republican Party nominee. And for that reason, other Democrats have not remained so silent as the former president increasingly publicly demonstrates his desire to see a more conservative final bill, if anything at all.
“This is a party that is completely in disarray to the point where the party leadership is explicitly stating, in a way that allows for leaks, that their presumptive nominee is essentially trying to prevent the Senate and House from resolving the issues so that “It can have more issues to work on,” Pat Dennis, president of American Bridge 21st Century, said in an interview.
Although the White House has thus far engaged Senate Republicans in border negotiations, it has not shied away from doing so.
attack GOP leadership in the Housewho highlighted his own opposition to a bipartisan agreement.
Biden aides know a Senate deal is likely dead as soon as it arrives in the House, according to two people familiar with White House thinking, who were granted anonymity to speak privately about conversations with officials of administration. Not only will the border legislation face opposition from the Republican caucus, but progressives have also threatened to vote against sweeping changes to asylum law.
That’s why administration officials are moving to lay the blame for inaction on this chamber.
They have focused on getting a deal in the Senate, which they say will demonstrate Biden’s ability to reach a bipartisan agreement and his eagerness to resolve the border issue. After that, the president’s team plans to go after House Republicans for dragging their feet.
“They want to get a deal from the Senate,” one of the people said, “even though they know the Senate is dead, so they can fight with the House Republicans.”