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Lisa Desjardins
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Lisa Desjardins

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Domenico Montanaro

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Rachel Wellford

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Simone Pathe

Your guide to immigration, Keystone fights this week

Politics

The Morning Line

Today in the Morning Line:

  • The early choreography in the House and Senate
  • Your guide to today’s fight over immigration
  • How the Keystone vote will work in the Senate

The big fights begin: This week, both the House and Senate have jumped into two of the more contentious battles of the past decade: the fight over immigration and the wrestling over the Keystone Pipeline. That has led to some intricate choreography on both sides of the Capitol. Here’s your Morning Line guide to what to watch for in each fight:

The House immigration votes today: Republicans are opening with a full charge against the president’s executive actions on immigration. The key date here is Feb. 27, the day that funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to run out. Today, House Republicans plan to pass a bill funding DHS for the rest of the fiscal year. But that funding would come with five important twists: five amendments, each designed to undercut the president’s immigration policies. Two of these are symbolic, “sense of Congress” amendments. The other three are substantive:

  1. The Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., amendment would block funding to implement any of the president’s actions on immigration and it declares the policies have no legal basis.
  2. The Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., amendment specifically forbids funding to renew or grant any new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the program waiving deportation for those who were brought into America illegally as children.
  3. The Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., amendment would prioritize anyone convicted of domestic abuse, child abuse or exploitation for deportation.

Democrats are vigorously opposing the first two. All of the GOP amendments are expected to pass the House, but the future of the then-amended bill is unclear in the Senate. Republican Senate leaders talking to Morning Line yesterday indicated they still are discussing what can get 60 votes. As for the White House, officials there tell us there is currently no off ramp on the DHS funding showdown and are betting that Republicans will blink. “They can’t risk a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security,” one White House aide said. But in the meanwhile, DHS is putting together contingency plans for exactly that happening. For his part, House Speaker Boehner has said he doesn’t want a shutdown to happen either. Prediction: another short-term funding bill for DHS is one of the most likely possibilities at the moment.

Keystone Action: Wasn’t the Senate going to pass the Keystone bill this week and get it to the president’s desk? As often happens in the Senate, the Keystone bill is working through procedural hurdles. It jumped over the first one on Monday, with a 63-32 vote to end the first potential filibuster on the bill. (Inside baseball for Senate watchers: Monday’s vote was cloture on the motion to proceed. The Senate then agreed on a motion to proceed yesterday.) What next? The Senate is off for a few days, as Republicans head to their joint retreat with House members, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. So we next expect Keystone votes Tuesday when they return. Here’s what to watch: which amendments are offered by each side. Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has stressed his push for a more open amendment process and more debate. So far, it looks like Republicans may have only three amendments, with aides telling us they expect a larger energy debate later this year. Democrats? Many are watching Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who announced he will propose an amendment, which states that “climate change is real,” that it is caused by human activity, and that it is already causing devastating effects.

Daily Presidential Trivia: On this day in 1994, President Clinton signed the Trilateral Statement, an agreement that set the terms for getting rid of nuclear weapons left in the Ukraine after the Soviet Union collapsed. Which other two world leaders signed the agreement? Be the first to tweet us the correct answer using #PoliticsTrivia and you’ll get a Morning Line shout-out. Congratulations to Graham H. Morris ‏(@GrahamHMorris) for guessing Tuesday’s trivia: What was Bush doing at the time of the pretzel choking incident? The answer: watching a football game at home.

2016: Who’s running?

  • Sen. Rand Paul is eager to play “conservative firebrand” in this election, according to Politico’s Manu Raju, who interviewed Paul about his place in the GOP field. While his House and Senate colleagues attend the joint GOP retreat this week, Paul will be in New Hampshire.

  • Paul has hired Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s 2014 manager, Chip Englander, to be his campaign manager.

  • New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to set up a leadership PAC as early as this month. Star-Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine lists the six moments from Tuesday’s State of the State address that suggest he’s running.

  • Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker also delivered his State of the State address, in which he took a jab at Christie. He also spoke of a “Wisconsin Comeback” — sound familiar? …Could he be the sleeper candidate?

  • Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is no longer simply saying she’s not running for president currently; she told former FDIC chair Sheila Bair in Fortune that she’s not going to run. That’s not stopping progressive groups from kicking of their “Run Warren Run” campaign in Manchester, New Hampshire, this weekend.

  • Hillary Clinton is building her team, hiring a media adviser and chief strategist/pollster, Joel Benenson, who was President’s Obama’s campaign pollster.

  • Advisers close to MItt Romney say his decision will come “sooner rather than later.” While Romney loyalists are excited about the prospect of another Romney candidacy, many Republicans feel he’s had his shot.

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Questions or comments? Email Domenico Montanaro at dmontanaro-at-newshour-dot-org or Rachel Wellford at rwellford-at-newshour-dot-org.

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Lisa Desjardins
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Lisa Desjardins

Lisa Desjardins is a correspondent for PBS News Hour, where she covers news from the U.S. Capitol while also traveling across the country to report on how decisions in Washington affect people where they live and work.

@LisaDNews
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Domenico Montanaro

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Rachel Wellford

Rachel Wellford is a general assignment producer for PBS NewsHour.

@rachelwellford
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Simone Pathe

@sfpathe

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