Schumer delays Senate recess to strike deal on Ukraine-border package

The Senate will stay in session next week as negotiators seek to reach a deal on the border that would unlock billions in new aid for Ukraine.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told members at a conference lunch on Thursday that the chamber would leave for the weekend but return on Monday despite a scheduled break for the Christmas recess. He announced the cancellation from the Senate floor shortly thereafter.

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“We have to get this done,” Schumer said. “Our Republican colleagues who have said action on the border is so urgent should have no problem with continuing to work next week.”

The move is, in part, a matter of unfinished business. The Senate has yet to approve an extension of the Federal Aviation Administration, whose funding expires on Dec. 31. But it is also seen as a way to pressure Republicans to reach a deal on Ukraine.

Schumer announced he would hold another vote on President Joe Biden’s supplemental funding request next week, whether there is a compromise or not.

Republicans dismissed the notion of staying through the recess. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the lead GOP negotiators for the border working group, told reporters on Wednesday morning it was not “remotely possible” to get a deal done before the new year, while Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) expressed a preference to be called back into Washington should the need arise.

Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) told reporters negotiators have a “long way” to go before a deal can be ironed out. The working group has not reached an agreement conceptually, let alone on legislative text, and Thune said he expects Ukraine skeptics in his conference will throw up roadblocks once a bill is finally ready to be brought to the floor.

Complicating matters further, the House went home for its recess on Thursday, meaning it’s unlikely the president will have a bill on his desk before the new year anyway. That’s assuming Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), a Ukraine skeptic himself, will accept whatever agreement the Senate reaches.

Nonetheless, Democrats are calculating that staying in Washington will hasten a deal in the Senate. In fact, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), one of the lead Democratic negotiators, is delaying the FAA reauthorization to keep members from heading home.

Senators have cited progress since the White House became involved in border talks earlier this week, and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), the lead Republican negotiator, told reporters on Thursday the working group would continue meeting into the afternoon.

But Republicans are testing the limits of what Schumer, and more importantly Biden, will concede in negotiations.

Biden requested $14 billion in funding for the border as part of his Ukraine supplemental, which also includes money for Taiwan and Israel, but Republicans are demanding changes in policy as the Biden administration deals with record border crossings.

The administration is said to be open to changes to asylum law and even an expansion of expedited deportations, much to the frustration of progressives, but issues like parole remain sticking points in border talks.

Democrats expect to fill next week with a slate of nominations as well as the FAA vote. The remaining dozen four-star officers held up in Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) military blockade are expected to be processed, according to Democrats on the Armed Services Committee.

“We should not go home at the end of the year until those are done,” said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). “We’re motivated to get those done.”

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But Democrats said the No. 1 issue is getting the supplemental, key to Biden’s foreign policy agenda, across the finish line.

“I would rather be in Montana. I would rather be,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), “but if it means getting it done, it’s our job and we should come back and do it.”

Emily Jacobs contributed to this report.