Paul railed against members of both parties, including Republicans for what he termed hypocrisy over concern about deficit spending.
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At the same time, many liberal Democrats wanted to withhold their support as leverage to win concessions on immigration policy. Spending bills are among the few areas where Republicans need Democratic votes in the House.
A bipartisan group of roughly 20 senators that’s been huddling behind closed doors for weeks is furiously working to draft a bill that they can propose during an expected floor showdown on immigration next week.
Facing tightening numbers for Thursday’s vote, Ryan said he was prepared to address the immigration issue head on. We just don’t know when any of that is actually going to happen.
But government funding expires Thursday at midnight. Pelosi and other top Democrats say they want to force Republicans to agree to legal protections for DREAMers, including the roughly 700,000 immigrants who are in the USA illegally after being brought to the country as children and who are enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The budget bill would allow for US$165 billion in extra defence spending and US$131 billion more for non-military programs, including health, infrastructure, disaster relief and efforts to tackle an opioid crisis in the country.
Shortly before 6, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor and urged Paul to stop his objections and instead raise a budget point of order.
“It has required concessions, sometimes painful, by both sides”, said Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer.
Fiscal conservatives in the lower chamber may join with Mr Paul in balking at adding billions of dollars to the national debt two months after passing a US$1.5 trillion tax cut package.
$2 billion to help Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Island rebuild and improve their electric grids. “How come you were against President Obama’s deficits and how come you’re for Republican deficits?”.
“I think a lot of people are learning that immigration’s complicated”.
In his statement announcing opposition, Corker said, “to say I am discouraged by the outcome of these negotiations would be an understatement”. Some progressive Democrats, meanwhile, protested the agreement’s omission of any measure to end the threat of deportation for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants brought to America as children.
The Kentucky Republican is demanding a vote on his call to reimpose stiff spending caps on Congress before he will consent to a vote to pass the budget deal reached by GOP and Democratic leaders. “Don’t collude with this administration”, he said. The budget is the only bill that needs to be voted on.
A number of lawmakers who supported the bill acknowledged the deal was not ideal.
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He said without McConnell granting him a vote on the bill, his options were limited.
