White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said Monday that Democrats “blinked” in the negotiations process.
“I think that the fact that they’re voting in favor of this proposal that they rejected a few days ago is sort of evidence that they blinked,” Mr. Shah said on CNN.
He added that Democrats did not come out of the negotiations with any sort of a win and gained nothing from the temporary government shutdown. He said that discussions on protections for Dreamers — children brought the U.S. illegally — were already underway, with a deal in sight, prior to the weekend shutdown.
“The president has invited this debate and engaged in this debate,” he explained.
Mr. Shah said that now that the government is funded for another three weeks, immigration talks will resume between the White House and Capitol Hill.
The discussions broke down when the bipartisan deal presented to the president didn’t meet his approval prior to the Jan. 19 funding deadline. Without a deal for Dreamers, Democrats promised not to vote for a spending measure, resulting in the nearly three-day government shutdown.
Lawmakers came to a deal midday Monday to reopen the government with a funding bill through Feb. 8.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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