Schumer, the upper house majority leader, decided that senators will remain in Washington next week to give negotiators more room to maneuver to reach an agreement before Christmas, which remains elusive.
“If we believe something is important and urgent, we should stay and do the work,” said the New York Democrat, referring to the additional aid package.
“For the information of all Senators: After we finish today, the Senate will return on Monday. “This will give the White House negotiators, the Democrats in the Senate and the Republicans in the Senate time to work on a framework agreement over the weekend,” he emphasized on site.
The Senate was scheduled to adjourn for its holiday recess later this week.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas met with Senate negotiators, senior White House officials and House leadership over the past two days.
“Everything is still conceptual at this point,” Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the upper chamber, told reporters Thursday. “Nothing has been finalized, nothing has been agreed upon, let alone put on paper,” he emphasized.
This morning, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre assured that the border talks were “going in the right direction” and that she was optimistic.
President Joe Biden, who received his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky at the White House last Tuesday, reiterated that he would be open to changes in border policy if he got the funds for Kiev.
This would put him in a vulnerable position as he would attack one of the most sensitive points of his government agenda; However, all indications are that the urgency will push Democrats to support provisions they have previously criticized related to asylum, deportations and migrant detentions.
“Republicans are pitting vulnerable groups against one another to impose strict gun policies that will worsen chaos at the southern border. We call on the Biden administration to say no,” warned Senator Alex Padilla and Congressional Hispanic Caucus President Nanette Barragán, both Democrats from California.
$106 billion in aid requested by Biden remains stuck on Capitol Hill, of which more than 61,000 would go to Ukraine and around 15,000 to Israel.
Time is against us. Tomorrow, members of Congress must leave Washington for a recess that will last until the second week of January 2024.
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