Senate Republicans will receive a briefing on the border on Wednesday as a bipartisan working group closes in on a deal to amend the country’s immigration laws.

The conference meeting, requested by Senate conservatives before lawmakers departed for the Christmas recess, will be held at 3:30 p.m., according to a source familiar.

Though negotiators are hoping to release a proposal later this week, the source cautioned that the conference meeting is a discussion on border security, not a presentation of any deal. Border talks are also likely to be a subject of discussion at the conference’s regularly scheduled lunch on Tuesday.

Border reforms, demanded by Republicans as daily crossings reach record highs, are seen as the key to unlocking tens of billions in funding for Ukraine. The Republican-led House is resistant to further aid, though Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has told Senate Republicans he would take up a bill that includes “transformational” border reforms.

The outlines of a deal have come into view in recent weeks, even as a formal framework remains elusive. The White House appears willing to make concessions on asylum, though another tool used to admit migrants, humanitarian parole, has been a major sticking point. The administration has admitted hundreds of thousands of migrants using this authority.

Any final deal will inevitably fall short of H.R. 2, the flagship border security bill the House passed in May, given that Democrats control the Senate and White House.

Conservatives have nonetheless treated a legislative compromise with skepticism. A handful of Republicans, including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), warned against “rushed and secret negotiations” in a letter requesting the special conference meeting.

Senate conservatives followed up that letter with a demand that legislation be considered with an open amendment process and hearings. 

The clock is ticking for Congress to reach a deal on Ukraine. The White House says aid ran out in December.

Complicating matters further, many of the same conservatives are threatening a government shutdown unless the border is addressed. Funding begins to lapse on Jan. 20, with a full shutdown impending on Feb. 3.

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Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), the lead Republican negotiator in Senate border talks, promised transparency in a Sunday appearance on Fox News, even as he acknowledged the party would not get everything it wants.

“Everyone will have time to read and go through it. No one is going to be jammed in this process, but it is a matter of trying to get this out,” he said. “To make law, we have to have a Democratic Senate and Democratic White House and a Republican House to be able to get through this. This agreement has to work. Everyone is counting on this working.”