Congressional Democrats face a critical decision this week as negotiations to shield 700,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation stall: Are they willing to shut the government down to protect Dreamers?

Government funding runs out on Friday. And with talks about a bipartisan budget and immigration deal on the rocks, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are preparing a fourth short-term spending measure to buy more time to negotiate.

But as the March 5 end-date for the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program looms, Democrats are under increased pressure to hold the line for an immigration solution. Outside groups have urged Democrats to vote against any legislation until the matter is addressed, and some progressives are itching for a shutdown fight that forces Republicans to deal on immigration.

“I think it would be a terrible mistake to shut down the government and particularly while we are negotiating in good faith. Just because we’re not meeting their deadline, that’s not really very productive,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Tuesday.

Cornyn and other deputy leaders — Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) — continue to engage in immigration talks that Republicans are hopeful will yield a deal.

Cornyn said he spoke with McCarthy over the weekend and Durbin on Tuesday morning. Their staffs are expected to meet again this afternoon.

“We continue to work. We know we got a deadline so we got to get this thing done,” Cornyn said.

“It can’t just be an agreement between six senators,” Cornyn continued, referencing the bipartisan agreement Durbin and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) presented last week that was dismissed by the White House. “It has to be one that will pass both houses and that the president would sign and I’m committed to making sure we stay at it until we find a solution.”

But Democrats remain pessimistic that the group can reach an agreement and some have said privately they think the talks are an effort by Republicans to stall on immigration in order to secure Democratic votes to keep the government open.

Democratic leaders have remained steadfast in their unwieldiness to strike a long-term budget accord with Republicans until DACA is resolved. But they — particularly Senate Democrats — have been unwilling to withhold votes for temporary funding measures keeping the government open.

Eighteen Senate Democrats voted for a so-called “continuing resolution” last December, kicking the deadline to Jan. 19. That’s because there’s a fear among Democratic leaders and centrists that they’ll be blamed for shuttering federal agencies — and that President Donald Trump’s accusation that they’re doing so to protect undocumented immigrants will backfire.

“The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security,” Trump tweeted Tuesday morning in a pre-emptive blame-game. “The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever. We need a merit based system of immigration, and we need it now! No more dangerous Lottery.”

Of course, GOP leaders are experiencing their own internal tensions. House Republican sources say they don’t currently have the 218 votes to carry a short-term spending measure by themselves.

Defense hawks in the party are furious that leaders have yet to reach a budget accord to increase Pentagon funding and have threatened to vote against the measure without a long-term funding deal that provides stability for the military.

House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) told reporters Tuesday he thought congressional leaders could reach a spending caps deal as soon as today. But Democratic leaders have shown no desire to strike a long-term funding agreement until DACA is resolved — and could face an intra-party revolt if they did so.

"Frankly, I think it’s not that hard to get a DACA deal, but the question is do they want to?" Thornberry said.

If Ryan can’t muscle the votes from his own party, he’ll have to turn to Democrats. One option being considered includes attaching long-term funding for the children’s health insurance program — an addition that would theoretically entice some House Democrats, particularly Congressional Black Caucus members, to vote for the bill.

In December, when GOP leaders attached a short-term CHIP provision to the stop-gap bill funding the government through Jan. 19, some Democrats privately complained about voting against the measure.

It’s unclear, however, if the president’s recent racially charged comments about African countries and Haiti being “shithole” countries will change that calculus. CBC members have discussed censuring the president for those remarks, and over the weekend, civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) blasted the president for what he called racist remarks.

Should the CR clear the House, it could face an uphill battle in the Senate, where nine Senate Democrats are needed for passage.

On “Meet the Press” Sunday, host Chuck Todd asked Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado if he believed it was worth shutting down the government to force a DACA compromise. Bennet demurred.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Bennet said. “I think that … It should not come to that. We should stop shutting this government down.”

Bennet, however, comes from a swing-state. Other Democrats, like Dick Durbin of Illinois, have suggested they won’t back any spending agreements without a deal.

But lawmakers are still hopeful a deal will be reached by Friday.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a shutdown,” Cornyn said. “I think that would be a big mistake.”

Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/government-shutdown-2018-daca-dreamers-341178