This Week on the Hill: Senate Set to Vote on Trump’s Latest Shutdown Offer

Congress will resume legislative business today after both chambers canceled their previously scheduled recess due to the ongoing government shutdown. Over the weekend, President Trump disclosed his latest offer to Democrats in hopes of striking a deal that ends the 32-day shutdown while also funding his border wall priority. In exchange for $5.7 billion in funding for the border wall, as well as funding for closed parts of the federal government, the president’s deal would provide a three-year extension of protections for young immigrants enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and an extension of Temporary Protected Status for refugees currently covered.

Shortly after President Trump’s announcement, Leader McConnell announced plans to put President Trump’s proposal up for a vote this week in the Senate. The bill (text; summary) would reopen the shuttered federal departments and agencies through Oct. 1 and will include the full $5.7 billion border wall allocation. In addition to the extensions of protections for young immigrants enrolled in the DACA and Temporary Protected Status for refugees, Senate Republicans also plan to add $12.7 billion in additional disaster relief aid ­­– similar to the House-passed disaster relief spending package (H.R. 268) that cleared the lower chamber last week.

While the White House and GOP lawmakers have championed this deal as a fair compromise, Democrats have thus far rejected the proposal, insisting that the shuttered parts of the federal government must be reopened prior to talks on a broader deal. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the House will take up another spending measure (H.R. 648) similar to the one that was cleared in the Senate by unanimous consent last month, downplaying the likelihood of a vote in the House on the latest GOP offer.