Immigration rift threatens DACA deal

WASHINGTON—Lawmakers are a week away from another government funding deadline and about a month away from needing to act on the expiring status of those protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—with no deal in sight.

A schism between the House and Senate has deepened as lawmakers grapple with partisan divides on immigration and a White House sending mixed messages to Capitol Hill. Getting a deal on DACA was never going to be easy, but with the current political landscape, it now appears intractable.

Finding a solution for the nearly 700,000 DACA beneficiaries hit a roadblock this week when conservative members in the House rejected a proposal from President Donald Trump that would grant citizenship to 1.8 million undocumented immigrants after 12 years.

Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., said Monday the president’s plan pleases the Washington establishment but does not represent Trump’s 2016 campaign platform or give voters what they want.

“That White House bill was probably written by some Senate staffers and some White House staffers that are just not listening to the will of the American people,” Brat told me. “They say ‘we think this is a deal that we think can pass’ but that’s not the way the system works. You don’t get to pick the ending point ahead of time.”

Brat and other conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus are encouraging support for an immigration bill sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. The Goodlatte bill is one of the most conservative plans introduced since Trump called on Congress to find a DACA solution in September. If passed, the legislation would grant DACA recipients a renewable legal status every three years in exchange for other hard-line immigration policies, like massive border wall funding and slashing the total number of legal immigrants allowed into the country each year.

According to an analysis from the Cato Institute, the legislation would cut the amount of legal immigration into the United State by nearly 40 percent. If passed, this would mark the largest policy-driven reduction of legal immigration since the 1920s.

Goodlatte’s bill has zero support from Democrats. Even if GOP lawmakers rallied around it, the measure would die in the Senate.

Freedom Caucus Chairmen Mark Meadows, R-N.C., also supports the Goodlatte plan and said many of his group’s roughly 35 members are not happy with the White House proposal.

“The real questions are the details of those initiatives and what they mean for their constituencies,” he said of his members’ position on the White House outline. “Any pushback that you’re getting may be from the uncertainty of not having legislative text and what that really means.”

Both Meadows and Brat don’t like anything they’ve seen offered in the Senate, particularly the bipartisan solution backed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). But that plan has the best chance of passing, since a final deal needs votes from both parties.

More moderate members of the House are hesitant to lock in on just one plan at this point.

“I’m very open to certainly looking at things,” said Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., when asked about the Goodlatte bill. “But I would prefer to have something that can become law. You can’t pass something with 50 votes in the Senate.”

Most House and Senate Republicans are in West Virginia for the rest of this week at a GOP policy retreat. The government runs out of funding after Feb. 8, and Republicans hope the time away from Washington will help build consensus on immigration—hopefully avoiding another shutdown.

“We’ll know more on Friday,” Hultgren told me.

Recovering from the Wynn fall

Sexual misconduct accusations against billionaire Steve Wynn, first reported by The Wall Street Journal last week, have created a conundrum for Republican groups.

Wynn resigned from his position as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), but the group has not decided whether to give up his money. Over the years, the Las Vegas casino mogul has donated about $1.3 million to the RNC.

RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News on Tuesday she found the accusations against Wynn troubling, but she’s not going to make any hasty decisions about his money.

“There is an investigation that’s going to take place,” she said. “He should be allowed due process. If he is found guilty of any wrongdoing, we’ll return 100 percent of that money.”

McDaniel took a very different approach to the Harvey Weinstein scandal, demanding Democrats return donations from the Hollywood producer when a landslide of accusations came out against him last year.

The Journal spoke with more than 150 former Wynn employees for its report, and dozens of people described Wynn engaging in a pattern of sexual misconduct in his casinos that span decades. Some described him pressuring women to perform sex acts.

Wynn denies all the accusations.

Meanwhile, other Republicans are taking a proactive approach to distance themselves from Wynn and his financial contributions.

Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio donated his Wynn contributions to organizations working to fight sex trafficking. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said he plans to donate the $1,000 he received from Wynn to charity.

Wynn was also a major contributor to the Republican Governors Association (RGA), giving $3 million to support GOP gubernatorial races since 2000.

RGA spokesman Jon Thompson said Monday the group plans to return $100,000 of Wynn’s donations from last year and canceled its plans to hold its 2020 conference at the Wynn Las Vegas resort and casino. Thompson called the accusations against Wynn very serious and said the RGA will not accept any more donations from him until the women’s claims are proven false. He said the RGA would like to return more money, but some funds already have been spent. —E.W.

The new pro-life campaign

Pro-life groups are preparing campaigns to oust vulnerable red state Democrats after a vote to ban late-term abortions failed Monday in the Senate.

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act needed 60 votes to advance and failed 51-46. Immediately following the vote, the Susan B. Anthony List launched websites and digital ad campaigns against several Democrat senators running for reelection in states President Donald Trump won in 2016 and where polls show voters support abortion restrictions.

The campaigns target Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Jon Tester of Montana.

“Voting to keep the brutality of late-term abortion legal isn’t just morally abhorrent, it defies national consensus and is a major political liability,” the Susan B. Anthony List said in a statement.

Polling data from the group shows constituents of those red state Democrats support banning late-term abortions. In Ohio, 67 percent of voters support the pain-capable bill, and 56 percent said they would be less likely to support a senator who voted against it. Surveys in Montana, Missouri, North Dakota, and Wisconsin reveal similar numbers.

Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Bill Nelson of Florida also face reelection in states Trump won in 2016. Both lawmakers missed Monday’s vote but voted against a similar bill in 2015. —E.W.

A call for help

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission wrote a letter to Vice President Mike Pence this week requesting his help with about 100 refugees from Iran seeking a new home in the United States. The letter from the co-chairmen of the congressional panel—Reps. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.)—note the Lautenberg Amendment requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. State Department to make religious minorities in Iran eligible for refugee status. But for more than a year, about 100 Iranians, including Christians, have been stuck in limbo after fleeing persecution. The refugees made it as far as Austria but now risk deportation back to Iran. “This case is reaching a crisis point,” the letter read. “[T]hese deportations, during a human-rights crackdown in Iran no less, could be a death sentence for these persecuted Christians and other minorities.” Pence has been a vocal defender of protecting religious minorities in the Middle East. The commission asked Pence to advocate for the DHS and the State Department to quickly review the pending refugee cases. —E.W.

Gaming 2018

Conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch met with members of their donor network last weekend to outline their 2018 strategy. The elite gathering included donors who contribute a minimum of $100,000 to the Koch brothers’ political entities. The Kochs announced during this midterm election year they plan to spend between $300 million and $400 million. That’s a 60 percent increase over what they spent during the last election cycle. The Koch brothers are not fans of President Donald Trump, but they support many of his policies—including the recently passed GOP tax overhaul. Over the course of 2018, the Kochs plan to spend money to promote the policies they like, while continuing to shy away from associating with the president. Tim Phillips of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch network’s primary political organization, told donors that as many as 80 House seats could be in play this November in a very uncertain political landscape. Dozens of incumbent Republican lawmakers have decided not to run for reelection this year, making some seats previously thought as safe GOP districts up for grabs. Democrats only need to pick up 24 seats this year to regain the House majority. —E.W.