Dick Durbin: A DACA Deal "Not Likely" This Week 

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that it’s “not likely” Senate Democrats and Republicans will agree on a bipartisan deal to provide DACA recipients with a pathway to citizenship ahead of Thursday, when funding for the federal government will run out (again).

Durbin told the network—not-so-reassuringly—that he “doesn’t see” another government shutdown coming—perhaps an implication that Democrats won’t refuse to sign off on a budget deal that doesn’t include a DACA fix.

His full remarks about the deal:

“There is not likely to be a DACA deal, though we’re working every single day on telephone calls and person to person, to try to reach this bipartisan agreement. … I don’t see a government shutdown coming, but I do see a promise by Senator McConnell to finally bring this critical issue that affects the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in America, finally bringing it to a full debate. That’s what we were looking for when there was a shutdown. We’ve achieved that goal, we’re moving forward.”

It’s a not wholly inconsistent statement from the second-in-command of a caucus whose leader has publicly argued that people don’t really care enough about long-term immigration reform to make it a position worthy of a government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in exchange for assuring Democrats the chamber would vote on a DACA fix before federal funding expires again, also made Senate Democrats agree not to shut down the government on Feb. 8.