Congress Avoids Government Shutdown, Punts DACA Solution Until Next Year

As expected, Senate Democrats signed off on a temporary funding bill Thursday night to avoid a government shutdown. Despite repeatedly promising to pass a legislative solution for DACA, a program that Donald Trump ended in September, a handful of Democrats facing re-election next year approved the funding bill—and simultaneously avoided the political fallout from forcing a government shutdown.

The House approved the bill in a 231-188 vote on Thursday evening. Shortly after, the Senate passed the bill 66-32 with 17 Democratic Senators voting yes. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, who touted his advocacy for the Latinx community during the 2016 election, was among those “yea” voters:

Earlier on Thursday, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to persuade with the goal of convincing him to urge Senate Democrats to block the spending bill over DACA. But their effort was to no avail, per Politico:

“Basically, Leader Schumer promised he’d urge the majority of senators to vote no, as many as possible,” Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) said. “And if we can’t get it done now, we will lay it all on the line on the 19th when we come back in January.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a particularly creative excuse for continuing to delay a DACA solution—the old, “it’s not our fault, it’s their fault” defense:

“They kicked the can for the omnibus into January. It’s this year, extended, that’s what it is. It’s the process,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol.

“We’ve never done that before that I remember,” she added. “But nonetheless we’re going to continue the conversation, because it is an emergency.”