DEMS/DREAMERS/IMMIGRATION/POLITICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Congressional leaders emerged Wednesday [1-3-18] from a meeting with White House officials without a budget deal, as Democrats intensified their push to reach an immigration agreement as part of the negotiations.
Lawmakers returning to Washington from their holiday break have less than three weeks before the government’s current funding expires at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 20. The path to keeping the government funded likely hinges on resolving many thorny issues that Congress has been postponing.
The top four congressional leaders met with senior White House officials Wednesday afternoon. The talks were complicated, they indicated, by a debate over how to reach a deal aimed at aiding young undocumented immigrants and tightening border security… A group of Senate Republicans planned to meet Thursday with President Donald Trump to discuss immigration, Mr. Cornyn said. The GOP president’s support is seen as key to reaching an immigration agreement… Democrats signaled this week that they intend to use their leverage in budget negotiations to demand legal protections for the so-called Dreamers, young people living in the U.S. illegally who were brought here as children.
Democratic votes will be needed to pass the spending bill in the Senate, where 60 votes are required to clear procedural hurdles. The GOP holds 51 seats in the Senate.”
-Kristina Peterson, “Immigration Debate Complicates Budget Talks,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 3, 2018 07:17pm