House Speaker Paul Ryan ramped up pressure on congressional Democrats to back a bill to temporarily extend government funding even if it does not include new legal protections for so-called Dreamers who came here illegally as children.
“It’s baffling that Democrats would be willing to block funding for our military over unrelated issues," Ryan, R-Wis., said Wednesday after outlining defense funding shortages that many believe contributed to a string of deadly accidents.
Government funding expires on Jan. 19. Democrats are threatening to vote against the legislation to extend funding until Feb. 16 unless a provision protecting Dreamers is included.
Democrats have been ambiguous about whether they will back the spending bill.
While it can pass the House with a GOP majority, nine Democrats are needed to stop a filibuster in the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday called the GOP spending plan “a loser,” and said if there is a partial government shutdown this week, “it will fall on the Majority Leader’s shoulders and the president’s shoulders.”
The short-term bill the House will vote on as early as Thursday includes continued funding for domestic and military budges as well as a six-year reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which is expiring soon.
But Ryan said Wednesday the timeline for writing legislation to protect the Dreamers extends to March 5, when an Obama-era program protecting them from deportation expires.
“That is the deadline we are operating on,” Ryan said.
Ryan said “talks are occurring in earnest” on a bill that would protect up to 800,000 Dreamers in exchange for new border security and immigration reform provisions, including changes to chain migration and the visa lottery system.
“Our leaders are meeting to discuss these things,” Ryan said. “Good faith negotiation are underway and to try to jeopardize funding for things like CHIP and our military just makes no sense.”
