As Zelensky Visits, Congress Could Decide ‘the Future of the World’
Congressional lawmakers are scheduled to head home for the holidays at the end of the week, but those plans could maybe, possibly still change depending on whether either chamber sees progress or pressure on key unfinished business.
Right now, that seems unlikely — but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting Washington this week to press the case for continued funding for his war against Russia even as Republican opposition grows. Zelensky is set to address senators and meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday.
Zelenky’s discussions with lawmakers come as congressional negotiators have struggled to make progress toward a deal to address security at the southern border and win backing for a $111 billion package including aid to Ukraine and Israel.
Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the lead negotiator for Senate Republicans, said Monday that “there’s no time” to finish a deal and get it to President Joe Biden’s desk this month if the House heads home at the end of the week, according to Politico. Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas made the same point and sought to blame Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “I think Sen. Schumer got this started so late that we might just run out of time, so I think it’s going to be a January exercise,” he said.
Lankford of Oklahoma told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the Biden administration isn’t going far enough. “The problem is the administration is trying to be able to figure out how to be able to just slow down a little bit of the flow. We had 12,000 people, for instance, on Tuesday of this last week that crossed the border illegally. They're trying to figure out some way to be able to say, well, we'll do a few thousand less, but not actually stop the flow.”
In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said he thinks it’s tragic that Republicans are even linking support for Israel and Ukraine to immigration in the first place, calling it “maybe the most difficult issue in American politics.” And he warned of the danger of failing to support Ukraine against Russian President Vladimir Putin at this moment.
“The future of the world is at stake,” he said. “If we fail, if Republicans don't get reasonable in the next 24 to 48 hours, Russia is going to march into Ukraine. China is going to be given a green light to invade Taiwan. The world, for my children, is fundamentally different under that scenario. The United States’ security is at risk. So, I am just beside myself. The Republicans are playing games with the security of the world. I will try to meet them where they are, but this is a very dangerous point.”
Murphy agreed that the border must be addressed, but he drew a line at some of the GOP proposals. “We are not going to put Donald Trump's immigration policies into statute. We're not going to do that. That would be bad for the country,” he said, later adding, “If I were a cynic, I would say that Republicans have decided to tie support for Ukraine to immigration reform, because they want Ukraine aid to fail. But I'm not a cynic. And so we are still trying to resolve some pretty big differences that remain.”
Murphy said that the White House will get more engaged in the talks this week.
What else needs to get done: The Senate will look to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense policy bill, and send it to the House, which also will be busy this week with votes on two competing versions of bills to reform Section 702 warrantless surveillance powers. Under the “queen of the hill” process being used, the bill that wins the most support will be sent to the Senate. The House will also vote on formalizing Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into Biden.
Both chambers are also expected to pass an extension of the Federal Aviation Administration authorization until March 8 this week.
And though floor action on annual spending bills isn’t likely to resume before lawmakers depart the Capitol, a January deadline to fund parts of the government is approaching, with another funding deadline following shortly after.
“Johnson is negotiating with the other congressional leaders on top-line spending levels for the current fiscal year, which must be agreed upon before they can finalize spending bills,” The Washington Post’s Theodoric Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell wrote Monday. “He wrote to colleagues last week that it was still his ‘intention that the House and Senate complete action on full-year bills’ before funding for some agencies expires Jan. 19 and funding for the rest of government expires Feb. 2.”
The bottom line: It’s not clear that negotiators will be able to finalize a border deal — or that there would be enough votes in both chambers for it to pass, given the level of Republican opposition to Ukraine aid and likely Democratic pushback against severe border policy changes. Senate leaders will need to see progress to delay their holiday break. And Johnson, who reportedly compared himself to Moses in a recent speech to a Christian group, has also indicated he wants to let his House people go home at the end of the week. But stay tuned.