Final pitch

Top Dems make final pitch to caucus for border compromise

By SARAH FERRIS

House Democrats will soon vote on a move that some of its members once considered unthinkable: Delivering billions of dollars to the Trump administration to confront the migrant crisis at the southern border.

Democrats appear likely to pass a border funding bill next week that its own members describe as a compromise, with most of the money going toward humanitarian efforts — and none for enforcement — at the border.

Key groups, including the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, now suggest they will support the effort on the floor, lining up a victory for Democratic leaders after some members initially revolted at the idea of sending more money to Trump’s handpicked border officials.

“What was presented to me seemed like a very good compromise,” Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a leader of the Hispanic Caucus, said Thursday. “That’s why I think you’re going to see more members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus voting for it.”

“Much of the exact language is things we really like — there’s no money for ICE agents, or ICE roundups, or anything like that,” added Rep. Mark Pocan, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “But I think the devil’s always in the details.”

Top Democratic spending leaders made an aggressive final sales pitch to the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Hispanic Caucus on Thursday, one day before they plan to release the text of the final bill. The formal whip effort is expected to begin after the text drops Friday, with a vote planned for Tuesday.

Few details of the Democrats' plan have been released, but the money would go toward both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services — the latter of which has raised alarms with progressives.

Thursday's presentations are the latest of several outreach meetings led by House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), as well as Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) as the caucus has crafted its response to the border crisis.

During the lengthy presentations, Lowey and others made the case for passing their own Democratic bill before the Senate’s own floor vote next week to maximize their leverage with the White House, according to multiple lawmakers in the room.

The spending leaders also fielded a barrage of questions of how exactly Democrats could block the White House from using the funds for other purposes, especially after Trump defied Congress by declaring a national emergency to secure border funding for a wall. The spending leaders responded that they had strong “guardrails."

“The reaction was very positive. We all want the same thing. We understand the extent of the humanitarian crisis,” DeLauro said after presenting at both meetings.

Democratic leaders are under pressure to lock down near-unanimous support for the funding bill within their caucus, after earlier attempts to craft a bipartisan bill in the House faltered. Now, most lawmakers and aides doubt that House Republicans will help deliver votes on the floor.

But Democratic leaders say they have drafted careful restrictions to constrain the White House. They say the bill restricts Trump’s ability to move any of the humanitarian aid toward his other border priorities. Nothing would go toward enforcement, according to lawmakers and aides.

Still, winning that kind of support on a border measure will pose a tough test for House Democrats, who can spare just 18 votes on the floor out of their 235 members.

Asked whether Democrats have the votes to ultimately pass the bill, Lowey told POLITICO: “I would hope because of the urgency of it, and the understanding of what’s happening on the border, that we do.”

Congressional Democrats have struggled for months to come up with a unified response to address the influx of migrants attempting to cross into the U.S., with some in their party demanding a hard line against Trump at all costs. Others, particularly those from border states, have called for urgent action.

Meanwhile, House Republicans have seized on the divide, using their procedural powers to demand roll call votes on the floor in a form of protest against what they’ve called Democratic inaction.

GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney would not say whether Republicans would support the Democrats’ proposal.

“They spend a lot of time talking about how concerned they are with conditions at the border but have not been willing to actually vote on bills that we’ve provided that could actually improve the situation,” Cheney said in an interview Thursday.