The prospects of passing a bill to speed up military aid to Ukraine this year are fading as Republicans shy away from reaching a quick deal on immigration policy changes they had demanded in exchange for passage of the bill.
After a weekend of intense bipartisan border negotiations produced progress but no breakthrough, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and majority leader, acknowledged Monday that negotiators are still a long way from reaching an agreement.
“It's going to take some time to get it done,” he said on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, laying out plans for the week that made no mention of votes on the Ukraine aid package.
That was a reversal from last week, when Mr. Schumer announced he would postpone the Senate holiday and keep the chamber in Washington this week in hopes of reviving and passing the Ukraine aid bill before it is scheduled for this year departs.
But Republicans have made clear they have no intention of dropping their objections until then.
“We feel like we're being squeezed,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press.” “We are nowhere near a deal yet. It will continue next year.”
Senate negotiators, who have been meeting daily with White House officials and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas since last week to find a path forward, said they had resolved some disputes over increased border security measures.
But without full approval to present to senators, a vote remained a long way off.
“It's very important to be careful and get it right, and that's what we're doing,” Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, R-Arizona, said of Sunday night's negotiations, later adding: “The reality is that “We have managed it.” a lot of problems that need to be solved.”
Negotiators met again on Monday and said they would talk further this week to resolve outstanding issues. But Republicans have warned Mr. Schumer against rushing negotiations or pushing their party into a last-minute vote on a bill that has not yet been implemented.
“We need to be cognizant of the fact that this is not just an exercise in the Senate,” Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “It’s not just about the Senate and the President agreeing to something. It’s something that can actually pass the House and become law.”
On Sunday, Sen. Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, distributed a letter signed by 14 of his colleagues calling on his party's leaders to hold a special session on the details of border talks no earlier than Jan. 8.
“Rashed and secret negotiations with Democrats who want an open border and who caused the current crisis will not secure the border,” they wrote.
At the same time, factions from both parties are rebelling over the direction of negotiations. In recent days, senators and administration officials appear to have agreed to raise the standard for migrants to claim they have a credible fear of persecution if sent back to their home countries.
Negotiators have also found common ground on the idea of expanding the government's ability to quickly deport migrants who enter the United States illegally. The agency would intervene if the number of border crossings exceeds the authorities' capacity to detain and process migrants.
But they still disagree when it comes to which migrants should be held in detention or allowed into the country on parole to await their court appearance.
The areas of looming agreement have angered progressive Democrats and Hispanic lawmakers, who have warned White House officials against reviving Trump-era border policies that Mr. Biden had previously rejected.
Mr. Mayorkas and Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House chief of staff, promised leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in a virtual call Saturday that they would keep them better informed about the border talks. But members of the caucus said they were still outraged by the range of restrictive measures the administration had been willing to take, according to people familiar with the private meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity.
At the other end of the political spectrum, conservative Republicans have also pushed back against any possible deal with Democrats, arguing that their party should not make concessions and instead insist on passing the more restrictive border control bill in the House. This bill, which has no chance of passing the Democratic-led Senate, prioritizes resuming construction of a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, reviving the Trump-era policy of holding migrants either in detention centers or in Mexico, and the Ending group-based parole policies that have allowed migrants from countries like Afghanistan and Ukraine to seek temporary refuge in the United States.
The House of Representatives will not reconvene in Washington until the week of January 8, and Speaker Mike Johnson has given no indication that he would be willing to call members back into session, even if senators and administration officials are able to do so Agreement to be reached next few days.
That has left proponents of a deal hesitant to discuss the elements of a possible compromise, lest it be picked apart and criticized over the holidays.
Kayla Guo contributed reporting.