The spending deal under consideration in the Senate may have President Trump’s imprimatur, but as they begin voting on it hours before a midnight shutdown deadline, some hard-right Senate Republicans have made it clear they are not happy about it.
Republican critics of the deal between Mr. Trump and Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, have argued that it cedes too much ground to Democrats on immigration, an issue where their party has until now had the political upper hand.
With the president asking for their votes, Republicans are all but certain to allow the measure to pass. But some of his staunchest allies on Capitol Hill contend that the agreement, which would freeze Department of Homeland Security spending to allow two weeks for a negotiation over new limits on immigration officers, amounts to a capitulation to Democrats that frames the fight too much around their perspective.
Republicans’ reticence indicates that sealing any deal with Democrats for new restrictions on Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown in the coming weeks will be an extremely hard sell. It also reflects an unusual predicament for Republicans in Congress, who have grown accustomed to backing up the president when he refuses to retreat in the face of public criticism, but now find themselves isolated on a core issue.
“To the Republican Party: Where have you been?” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said in a speech on Friday as he noted strong public support for the party’s stance on border security.
“We are on the run on an 80-percent issue, and I’m tired of it,” he added.
Senator Eric Schmitt, Republican of Missouri, said the immigration debate has produced a “moral inversion,” where “those who break the law are the only ones deserving of sympathy, while those who enforce it must apologize for doing their jobs.”
Mr. Graham, who blocked quick approval of the spending deal Thursday night, also said the fight over immigration policy was being distorted by Democrats.
“The ICE agents and the border patrol — all federal law enforcement involved in this — has been slandered and smeared,” he said.
Even before Democrats dug in against the homeland security funding following this month’s fatal shootings by immigration agents, some Republicans had already been irked that Democrats had a hand in writing the spending package, which rejects many of Mr. Trump’s requests for steep spending cuts. They pointed to an infusion of spending on pet projects and support for Democratic priorities in the legislation.
“Even in a Republican-controlled Congress, Democrats are still able to effectuate and fund a radical agenda that the American people opposed when they elected us to this majority and that we promised we wouldn’t perpetuate,” Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, said.
Despite the pushback, most Republicans were expected to join Democrats in supporting the spending deal. In the days since the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, many of them have criticized the crackdown and expressed support for restrictions on the officers engaged in immigration roundups.
They worry that Republicans have already lost their dominance on immigration issues as many voters recoil at videos of masked immigration agents shooting and killing American citizens.
And they note that Mr. Trump has signed off on the deal, which has usually been enough for Republicans to back even measures that they would normally oppose. One of them directly criticized his colleagues for stalling the spending package and putting the country on the brink of another shutdown.
“We’re going to shut down the government because some Republicans refuse to take the win,” said Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, “refuse to take a negotiated agreement that the president agrees with.”
But Mr. Schmitt and Mr. Graham said Republicans needed to reassert themselves on an issue that built the Republican majority in the Senate rather than surrender it to Democrats.
“This is a home game for us,” Mr. Schmitt said.
Carl Hulse is the chief Washington correspondent for The Times, primarily writing about Congress and national political races and issues. He has nearly four decades of experience reporting in the nation’s capital.
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