NEWS JUNKIES — CHECK OUT OUR HOMEPAGE
No more votes in the Senate tonight. Omnibus in trouble. Title 42 amendment causing big problems.
— Trish Turner (@caphilltrish) December 22, 2022
Charles Schumer took to the floor at 2 am Thursday to say an agreement was near to speed up passage of the massive 2023 omnibus spending bill, after senators spent Wednesday wrangling behind the scenes.
The chief dispute was over pandemic-era asylum restrictions that the Biden administration wants to lift, a move that Republicans and some Democrats say would exacerbate chaos at the border. Mike Lee has an amendment to bar the administration from ending the so-called Title 42 policy; Republicans want a simple majority threshold for adoption, while Democrats want to raise the bar to 60 votes.
“It is my expectation we will be able to lock in an agreement on the omnibus tomorrow morning,” Schumer said. “We are very close, but we’re not there yet. ”
The New York Democrat said the chamber would reconvene at 8 a.m., for a nomination vote, which he said would “bring everybody here to get final agreement and then to move forward.”
If a deal is struck, it could mean a lengthy day of amendment votes before final passage. But it would mark a sharp turnaround from the gloom expressed late Wednesday. The entire $1.7 trillion omnibus is now “hanging by a thread,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said on his way out of the Capitol.
Senators are leaving the floor saying there are no omnibus votes tonight, the holdup being a GOP amendment to reinstate Title 42 that Dems want at a 60 vote threshold and Republicans want at a simple majority.
Next steps unclear.
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) December 22, 2022
Schumer has an excuse for everything…
Reporter: “How is it to functional process to drop a 4,100 page bill this morning and expect a vote on it tomorrow?”
Schumer: “The bill has been carefully worked on [and] most of the provisions were well known weeks and weeks in advance.” pic.twitter.com/PLBO3JOdig
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 20, 2022
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