Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said on Wednesday that a deal to restore some funding to the Department of Homeland Security appears unlikely despite earlier reports of a breakthrough.
A Monday night meeting between Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump focused on funding all DHS agencies except Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which would instead be addressed in a separate reconciliation bill — a plan Trump first turned down on Sunday. On CNN’s “The Situation Room” Wednesday, Kennedy said reports that Trump came around on the idea were wrong. “He’s not for it,” Kennedy told Wolf Blitzer, calling it just one of several major obstacles preventing a deal.
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“Solving this problem through reconciliation, it’s clear to me it’s going to be very, very difficult. I got up this morning about 5:00. I can read, I can watch TV, I watch the news … Number one, the president is against it,” Kennedy said. “I haven’t been in meetings with the president. I was told that he was for it. One senator told me he was even enthusiastic. That’s not accurate. He’s not for it.”
“Number two, our majority leader is everything. Whoever the majority leader is controls the floor. And based on the comments I’ve read this morning, our majority leader is not really for it,” he added. “Number three, my Republican colleagues who are leading the talking filibuster clearly want to continue the talking filibuster, as is their right.”
Moreover, Kennedy said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was an obstacle to a deal.
“Number four, Senator Schumer has changed his mind. Chuck probably has another side to this story, but the whole opening everything up on reconciliation is premised on the suggestion by Democrats that they would open everything up, including TSA [Transportation Security Administration] but ICE,” he said. “And we would have to deal with ICE on our own. Senator Schumer has changed that position. He no longer will open up the rest of the department unless we agree to what he wants to do on ICE. So we’re back to square one.”
Some Republican senators have also cast doubt on funding DHS through the reconciliation process, which requires just 51 votes and is restricted to budgetary items.
“This idea that they’ll get funded through a reconciliation package is a pipe dream,” Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott said on Tuesday. “We’re not going to get a reconciliation package done.”
“I don’t think it’s a good approach,” Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins told reporters Tuesday.
Trump has also demanded including the SAVE America Act in any agreement to fund the government.
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