WASHINGTON _ Senators return to Washington on Thursday to vote on competing, partisan proposals to fund the government, neither of which stand much chance of ending the month-long, increasingly bitter stalemate over President Donald Trump's wall along the southern border.
The votes will mark the first the Senate has held since the partial government shutdown began Dec. 22. Lawmakers will vote on a Republican plan _ outlined by the White House over the weekend _ to pair border wall funding with temporary protections for some immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Democrats will get a vote on a plan to temporarily reopen government with no funding for a wall.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who controls the Senate floor and has played a key role in nearly every major bipartisan legislative proposal over the last decade, has largely tried to stay out of the negotiations over the shutdown. But he has embraced the Trump plan as a way out, despite deep opposition from Democrats.
"It's time to make a deal," he said Wednesday. "Enough political spite. Enough showboating for 'the Resistance.' Enough refusing to join in talks and then complaining you weren't consulted."
Democrats blame Trump for refusing to reopen the government unless he receives billions of taxpayer dollars for a border wall that he previously promised Mexico would fund.
While Democrats have embraced the idea of granting protections to so-called Dreamers, they say Trump's plan is not a permanent solution and would hurt those seeking asylum from Central American countries.
They want to fund the government on a temporary basis while negotiating a border plan. "It simply reopens the government for three weeks and allows us to continue debating border security," said Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). "There is nothing partisan about" it.
The Senate approved a similar measure in December with the understanding that Trump would sign it into law. He reversed course, insisting that Congress pass a spending bill that included the wall funding.
Both the Democratic and Republican measures that will get a vote Thursday also includes disaster aid to address the California fires and hurricanes in Florida and Texas.
Despite the glum outlook for Thursday's votes, they could be viewed as a sign of progress in ending the standoff that has sucked all the oxygen out of the Congress. In the past, McConnell has used Senate votes that he knows will fail to send a message to the public and the White House about what he is realistically able to get through his chamber. Thursday's votes could play that role.
Few lawmakers are expected to cross the aisle to support the other party's proposals. But a few senators who are up for reelection in 2020 _ such as Republican Cory Gardner of Colorado and Democrat Doug Jones of Arkansas _ could face pressure from their constituents to compromise.
GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who previously said she would support reopening most of the government without wall money, praised Trump's plan on Wednesday but didn't explicitly say how she would vote.
"His legislative package avoids the chicken-and-egg dilemma of whether we should reopen government first or whether border security measures should be considered first," she said.
Meanwhile, the Democratic-controlled House has voted nearly a dozen times for measures to reopen the government, whether all of the shuttered agencies or a single one. Several moderate Republicans have crossed the aisle to support those measures, including 10 on Wednesday.
