The Senate will delay its planned holiday recess and return to the Capitol next week in an attempt to give negotiators more time to reach an elusive deal on a $110.5 billion supplemental spending bill including border policy changes and aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
“Members need to be here next week. We have to get this done,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday. “Our Republican colleagues, who have said action on the border is so urgent, should have no problem with continuing to work next week. We hope to come to an agreement, but no matter what, members should be aware that we will vote on a supplemental proposal next week.”
Talks between the White House and Senators from both parties will continue over the weekend in hopes of reaching a framework agreement, Schumer said. Any such framework would then need to be turned into legislative text. But Schumer said he has already laid the procedural groundwork to enable the Senate to consider any proposed deal — or an alternative plan.
“This might be one of the most difficult things we have ever had to work through,” Schumer said, “but we all know that so much hangs on our success. We know autocrats like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Xi [Jinping, the president of China] are hoping for us to fail. We need to try with everything we have to get the job done.”
The White House on Thursday indicated that negotiations were “going in the right direction.” It has reportedly offered up major policy changes, including expanded authority to expel migrants, some of which have alarmed progressives.
Even so, key Republicans indicated Thursday that the talks still had a long way to go. “Everything right now is still conceptual,” Sen. John Thune of South Dakota told reporters. “There hasn’t been anything nailed down, agreed upon, let alone reduced to paper.”
Thune reportedly said he doesn’t see a realistic path to passing the bill before Christmas. Sen. Lindsey Graham was also doubtful given the lack of legislative language at this point: “At this moment a deal by the end of the year is just not remotely possible,” he said.
The Senate has other unfinished business to take up next week, including reauthorization of Federal Aviation Administration programs set to lapse on January 1 and confirming nominations. But the House on Thursday adjourned for its holiday break, meaning that unless Speaker Mike Johnson calls members back — which is extremely unlikely — lawmakers there won’t be around to vote on any Senate deal before the new year.
