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.”

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is expected to meet with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Wednesday morning. CHC members held a series of calls over the weekend to discuss strategy and then released a statement seemingly in opposition to the Graham-Durbin deal without mentioning the proposal by name.

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 intraparty 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.

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.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...reamers-341178