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It's taken just two weeks for Washington's immigration battle to fade from blistering to back-burner. Lawmakers now seem likely to do little or nothing this election year on an effort that's been eclipsed by Congress' new focus on guns, bloodied by Senate defeats and relegated to B-level urgency by a Supreme Court ruling.
President Donald Trump on Friday declared a global trade war and said it would be "easy to win," promising to hammer "reciprocal taxes" on any country that charges tariffs on U.S. goods and services. His threats, made in a series of Twitter posts, looked to escalate his new protectionist policies far beyond the steel and aluminum tariffs he said he would impose next week.
It's taken just two weeks for Washington's immigration battle to fade from blistering to back-burner. Lawmakers now seem likely to do little or nothing this election year on an effort that's been eclipsed by Congress' new focus on guns, bloodied by Senate defeats and relegated to B-level urgency by a Supreme Court ruling.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, pledged Wednesday to fight for a criminal justice proposal that includes reducing certain mandatory prison sentences, and he raised the prospect of blocking a package of related reforms the White House and congressional Republicans are said to be interested in if he can't get an agreement. Grassley and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has been pushing for legislation that would make reforms to sentencing guidelines, as well as prison practices.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., flanked by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., left, and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday.
Whoopi Goldberg couldn't help but notice that leaders of the Republican party like Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell have been remarkably silent in wake of the Stoneman Douglas massacre. "One of the things I heard over the weekend and people kept saying is 'Well, where were the Republicans?'" Goldberg asked.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell : "I thought my friends across the aisle would jump at this opportunity to fulfill what they say is their top priority. But they just could not take 'yes' for an answer.
Marshall County High School shooting suspect Gabriel Park, 15, faces two counts of murder and 14 counts of first-degree assault. Brian Cope, his wife, Teresa, and their son Maddox share memories of Preston Cope, who was one of two students who died in the Marshall County High School shooting.
The Senate has left hundreds of thousands of "Dreamer" immigrants in limbo, rejecting rival plans that would have spared them from deportation and strengthened the nation's border security. Senators dealt President Donald Trump an especially galling defeat as more than a quarter of fellow Republicans abandoned him on an issue that helped propel him to the White House.
The Senate left hundreds of thousands of "Dreamer" immigrants in limbo Thursday, rejecting rival plans that would have spared them from deportation and strengthened the nation's border security. Senators dealt President Donald Trump an especially galling defeat as more than a quarter of fellow Republicans abandoned him on an issue that helped propel him to the White House.
The Senate is preparing to begin a debate over immigration. In a separate development, the House panel is launching an investigation into the Rob Porter scandal.
A Senate debate over immigration got off to a halting start Tuesday, with Republican and Democratic leaders immediately at loggerheads over how to move forward and President Donald Trump warning this was the "last chance" to extend protections to "Dreamer" aliens. Trump issued the warning in a morning tweet as the Senate opened what was billed as an unusual and open-ended debate on a host of immigration issues.
With the budget deal signed last week, the White House and Congress have abandoned even the pretense of fiscal responsibility. The bipartisan budget deal passed on Feb. 9 suspended the debt ceiling through March 1, 2019, increased spending by $300 billion and raised spending caps first put in place in 2011 at the peak of the tea party movement.
President Donald Trump, right, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 17, 2018, as, left to right, Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, look on. U.S. President Donald Trump urged congressional lawmakers to find a solution to the vexing problem of immigration reform, saying the window of opportunity is closing fast to protect young immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children.
In a rare move, the Senate will launch an unusual process late Monday afternoon to debate a legislative fix for the hundreds of thousands of so-called Dreamers who could face deportation come March 5. The process calls for a free-for-all debate on the Senate floor with an unlimited number of amendments that can be offered, all in the hopes Republicans and Democrats can reach a bipartisan solution in the contentious immigration debate. "I expect that virtually every issue under the sun will come up during this floor debate and that's fine," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters last week.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., left, talks with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., before his speech at the McConnell Center's Distinguished Speaker Series Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, in Louisville, Ky. less Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., left, talks with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., before his speech at the McConnell Center's Distinguished Speaker Series Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, in ... more The Capitol Dome of the Capitol Building at sunrise, Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, in Washington.
The Senate's two top leaders put on a show of comradery Monday as their chamber launched its immigration debate, but also laid down markers underscoring how hard it will be to reach a deal that can move through Congress. "We really do get along, despite what you read in the press," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., at a previously scheduled appearance alongside his counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at the University of Louisville.
The Senate will open up a rare, open-ended debate on immigration and the fate of the "Dreamer" aliens today. But President Donald Trump is a crucial and, at times, complicating player.