For all the latest developments in Congress, follow WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller at Today on the Hill.
House members are now home for the holidays, but Senators are continuing to hammer away at an agreement on the Southern border, which would put an end to the impasse that’s holding up billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine and Israel.
A small group of lawmakers and staff members are working this weekend, trying to get to a deal on immigration issues that have vexed Congress for well over a decade.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this week that enough progress had been made to keep the Senate in session and have lawmakers return on Monday.
“If we believe something is important and urgent, we should stay and get the job done,” Schumer said. “The plan is for the Senate to act as soon as we are ready to move forward on the supplemental.”
But getting to an agreement, much less crafting legislation on the $110 billion foreign aid package, will be difficult and time consuming.
Even the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Capitol Hill and the White House this week didn’t seem to move the political needle.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who’s been a strong supporter of aid for Ukraine, joined with Republicans in reiterating the need to take up asylum and security issues at the U.S. border with Mexico.
“I think there’s overwhelming agreement that we need to deal with secure borders,” McConnell said. “Whether it’s the Ukraine border, the Israel border or the U.S. border.”
McConnell acknowledged that negotiating an agreement on border issues “is very complicated.”
Republicans have been critical of President Joe Biden for not taking a more active role in trying to reach an agreement.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was on Capitol Hill on Friday as the talks inched ahead.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine takes issue with those who argue that the president and the White House should have become more involved on the issue much earlier.
“I think the White House has played a good role in this,” he said in response to a question from WTOP.
Kaine pointed out that the president’s original request in the supplemental budget that includes aid for Israel and Ukraine also included $14 billion for border improvements.
“I can assure you that the White House has been very involved in those discussions,” Kaine said. “You might not have seen (House Speaker Mike Johnson) trooping down to talk to the president. But I can tell you this — the folks who do the work on the border, particularly DHS Secretary Mayorkas, have been deeply involved in discussions.”
But many Republicans counter that the White House efforts have been too little, too late.
GOP lawmakers want more restrictions related to asylum requests and more efforts to turn away migrants.
Among the issues under discussion: new border authority to expel migrants without asylum screenings and an expansion of detention and deportations. CBS News reported this week that the Biden administration signaled it would be willing to consider those changes.
But House Republicans have indicated that they have no intention of returning to Washington during the holidays to vote on a foreign aid bill.
Many are strongly opposed to approving additional aid for Ukraine and are skeptical the Senate negotiations will go far enough on the border.
So while the foreign aid package remains a top priority of President Biden, as war rages on in the Middle East and Ukraine, it appears Congress won’t approve any new assistance for the countries this year.
