McConnell to Pair Bills to Reopen Government With Trump's Immigration Plan

WASHINGTON — In a bid to put pressure on Democrats, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, plans this week to bring up legislation that would immediately reopen the government and incorporate President Trump’s proposal to offer temporary protections to some immigrants in exchange for $5.7 billion for his border wall, a top aide to Mr. McConnell said Sunday.

By coupling government funding with the plan Mr. Trump unveiled on Saturday, Mr. McConnell — who has until now stayed on the sidelines in the shutdown debate — is hoping to shift blame for the shutdown to Democrats, who have said repeatedly that they will not negotiate over border security until the government is fully open.

But there was no indication from Democrats on Sunday that they would abandon that position. And some doubted that Mr. McConnell would even bring legislation to the floor, because of pressure from conservative critics who regard Mr. Trump’s proposal as amnesty for those who came to the United States illegally.

Polls show the public largely blames Mr. Trump for the shutdown, and his advisers have been searching for an exit strategy. In an address from the White House on Saturday, Mr. Trump offered to restore the temporary protections he took away from certain undocumented immigrants, including the young people known as Dreamers, and those from Latin American and African countries, in exchange for border wall funding.

But Democrats, who want permanent protections for those immigrants, have denounced the plan as “hostage taking,” saying the president is only offering to give back what he himself took away.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mcconnell-to-pair-bills-to-reopen-government-with-trumps-immigration-plan/ar-BBSuzOF?li=BBnb7Kz

Trump's little butt kisser McConnell can't win.