House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday threatened to oppose an emerging budget deal without a commitment from Speaker Paul D. Ryan for a freewheeling consideration of immigration legislation.
“Without that commitment from Speaker Ryan comparable to the commitment from Leader McConnell, this package does not have my support, nor does it have the support of a large number of members of our caucus,” Mrs. Pelosi said on the House floor.
The move ratchets up the government shutdown showdown drama, with funds set to expire if lawmakers can’t agree on a package before Friday.
Mrs. Pelosi was holding the House floor — allowed for leaders under chamber rules — to discuss the issue Wednesday morning.
She did say Democrats support a lot of items that could end up in the emerging deal, including money for disaster recovery efforts and “billions” of dollars for items such as combating the opioid crisis and funding health programs.
Mr. Ryan said this week that the House isn’t going to take up a bill that the president does not support, which could rule out several emerging bipartisan plans that involve fixes for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“Speaker Ryan has already repeatedly stated we intend to do a DACA and immigration reform bill — one that the president supports,” Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said Wednesday.
Mr. Ryan and other Republicans have also said the immigration debate needs to be separated from the broader budget and spending negotiations.
In a bid to avert a government shutdown this week, Senate leaders are closing in on a deal that would lift strict spending caps and pave the way for at least a temporary end to the stop-and-go budgeting process that’s gripped Capitol Hill for the past few months.
The House and the Senate also have to agree on a government funding plan before Friday or face another partial government shutdown.
The House passed a bill on Tuesday that would extend most domestic spending at current levels until March 23, while boosting defense spending and funding the Pentagon through September.
But Democrats — who want boosts in defense spending matched with increases for domestic programs — said the prospects for that proposal were iffy in the Senate.
As Mrs. Pelosi indicated, some House Democrats also want assurances on immigration if they’re going to support any larger budget deal the Senate might send back.
The deal could collectively lift defense and non-defense spending caps by some $300 billion over two years, and might also include an increase in the debt ceiling as Congress faces another looming deadline on that front.
But conservatives are already saying they oppose the higher domestic spending levels and are wary of potential debt ceiling language — which could leave House leaders in both parties struggling to round up votes for the package if enough Democrats dig in on immigration.
After a three-day partial shutdown of the government last month, Senate Democrats ultimately backed down on their demands to tie negotiations to a DACA fix.
Democrats had received assurances from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for a freewheeling immigration debate, as long as the government remained open.
“In the Senate, on those rare occasions when we have these open debates, whoever gets to 60 [votes], wins. And it will be an opportunity for 1,000 flowers to bloom,” Mr. McConnell said Tuesday.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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