Vote on amended border package

House heads toward vote on amended border package, as Trump signals opposition

By HEATHER CAYGLE and BURGESS EVERETT

The House will vote Thursday on an amended emergency border aid package, but it’s unclear if the Senate will consider the new version, teeing up a game of chicken between the two chambers just before the holiday break.

House Democrats unveiled the new package overnight, which adds several Democratic provisions to the Senate’s $4.6 billion bill aimed at addressing the sprawling humanitarian crisis at the border. But a Trump administration official said early Thursday that the administration will oppose the House bill over the new policy additions — and without the promise of Trump’s signature it’s unlikely to attract the support of House and Senate Republicans. The official said the bill would lead to the closure of “already overwhelmed border facilities.”

The additions — many of which come from the House’s competing legislation — would place additional restrictions on how the administration may spend the money and specify basic standards of care for the thousands of migrant children being held at the border, many in reportedly horrific conditions.

“There is no reason why this shouldn’t be signed into law. I hope Congress can move quickly today and get this done,” House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said Thursday, as the panel approved the package.

But it’s unclear if the amended Senate bill will receive GOP support in the House — a key indicator for Senate Republicans, who will be watching the whip count closely. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was noncommittal Wednesday on whether he would work with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to reconcile the competing bills.

House Republicans on the Rules panel pushed back on Democrats’ new version on Thursday morning, saying the House should simply take up the initial Senate bill, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate on Wednesday. The original House bill flopped in the Senate via a 37-55 vote.

“You’re going down a path which does not guarantee a presidential signature,” Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the ranking Republican on the Rules panel, said Thursday. “Why the majority would push provisions that already failed in the Senate and are opposed by the president is beyond my understanding.”

Congress is due to leave town by Friday for the week-long July 4 recess, although leaders in both chambers have said they will not leave until the dispute over humanitarian funding is resolved. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is already struggling to care for tens of thousands of migrant children, has warned it will run out of funds as soon as this month.

Vice President Mike Pence has been deputized to handle negotiations on behalf of President Donald Trump, who is in Japan for the G-20 meeting. Pelosi and Trump chatted on Wednesday before he went overseas, but it’s unclear if the president would sign the amended bill Pelosi is pushing.

Some moderate lawmakers within Pelosi’s own caucus want her to just bring the clean Senate bill up in the House for a vote, arguing that’s the quickest route to getting a bill to Trump’s desk and delivering billions of dollars in aid to address the influx of migrants straining federal resources at the border.

But Pelosi also faces pushback from a vocal coalition of progressives, who don’t want to send Trump any additional federal money without first attaching guardrails to ensure the funds can’t be diverted for other uses, including increasing deportations.

“I doubt that,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said when asked if the House would take up the original Senate bill without changes.

Pelosi “has been very clear with the president on what needs to be in there for children and she’s very committed to making sure that a lot of the standards that we have in our bill — that aren’t in the Senate bill — are included.”