With midterm elections looming, embattled congressional Republicans would like to be spending their scarce floor time showing voters they are tackling the high cost of living.
Instead, they are spinning their wheels on a series of bills with limited political payoff, if any, lacking the votes — or the consensus in their own ranks — to move ahead with much else.
Six months from voting that will decide control of Congress, Republicans in the House and Senate are bogged down on an intraparty fight over surveillance powers. The Senate spent a month debating a voter identification bill that has little chance of passing and may never even get a final vote. A major housing bill is caught in yet another House-Senate G.O.P. dispute. Much of the Homeland Security Department remains shut down after nearly 70 days. The war in Iran is driving up gas prices.
Now Republicans are embarking on a politically treacherous push to fund immigration enforcement agencies through the rest of President Trump’s tenure outside the traditional appropriations process, using a filibuster-proof budget maneuver that is typically reserved for big-ticket, party-line items, not routine spending bills.
Republican leaders are determined to keep the $70-billion budget legislation as narrow as possible to meet a June 1 deadline to send it to Mr. Trump. But that approach has frustrated some in the party who fear it may be a missed opportunity to put down a marker before the midterms. They would prefer to load up the measure with tangible benefits for voters as their fears of losing control of Congress intensify.
“I think we would all like to do more,” acknowledged Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida.
He and his fellow Republicans blame Democrats for forcing them into the approach by blocking homeland security funding in a bitter dispute over the conduct and tactics of immigration officers. But they worry they might not get another chance before they face voters this fall to push through legislation with real political appeal.
“I want to win the election in November,” Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who has been pressing to expand the scope of the border funding legislation, said on Tuesday on CNBC. “And you win the election by putting points on the board and adopting policies that make a difference in people’s lives.”
Senator John Thune, the South Dakota Republican and majority leader, wants to keep the filibuster-proof bill as focused as possible on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol to keep it from being weighed down by the costs and potential controversies around other items. House Republicans are sitting on funding for the shuttered agency, awaiting proof that Senate Republicans will be able to deliver a bill that locks in future dollars.
“As I’ve said from the very beginning, the exercise here is to make sure we have something that gets 50 here and 218 in the House that is narrow and focused on ensuring that ICE and CBP are funded well into the future,” Mr. Thune said, referring to the number of votes needed to squeeze a so-called reconciliation bill through the House and Senate.
House members have their own ideas about a budget bill, with some demanding that its cost be offset with cuts elsewhere and others pressing for more priorities to be added. The two chambers will eventually have to work out any differences.
Watching from the sidelines, Democrats are surprised that Republicans are devoting the time and energy needed to push through a reconciliation bill simply to fund a portion of a single federal department, rather than trying to push ahead with legislation attacking rising consumer expenses.
“You only get a couple of chances to do big things using this tool,” said Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii. “So how you use this reflects what you care about and what you prioritize as a political matter. They clearly are not prioritizing reducing costs.”
By using the budget process, Republicans have also opened themselves up to two floor showdowns, starting as soon as Thursday, that will allow Democrats to offer an unlimited amount of politically charged amendments. Democrats plan to use those opportunities to try to put Republicans on the spot by forcing a series of votes on measures to lower the cost of living, then wield the G.O.P.’s opposition to each as proof that their party is not focused on the challenges Americans are facing.
“Democrats want to lower Americans’ costs; Republicans want to appease Trump by giving ICE tens of billions of dollars,” Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and minority leader, said. “We are going to make them own that decision, amendment after amendment, vote after vote.”
Republicans believe their strong support of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown gives them the political edge in the debate, offering a sharp contrast with Democrats who they accuse of wanting to defund law enforcement and loosen border security. Democrats blocked the homeland security funding after they failed to reach agreement with the White House on restrictions such as banning masks on immigration officers and requiring warrants for some immigration arrests and searches.
“They would rather stand to protect illegal immigrant criminals than protect law-abiding American citizens,” Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said. “They want to go back to the days where 10 million illegal immigrants flooded into our country — criminals, drug dealers, gang members. What they want to do is dangerous. It’s reckless and it’s radical.”
At the same time, Republicans must still resolve a dispute between the House and Senate over renewing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, another fight that is consuming congressional energy. And a bipartisan Senate bill to increase access to housing — perhaps the most significant affordability measure with the potential to clear Congress — has stalled in the House, raising the ire of senators eager to join in a signing ceremony for that bill at the White House.
The fate of the Republican legislation toughening voter identification and registration requirements is also uncertain after it was pulled from the floor for the budget deliberations, though it remains a top priority of Mr. Trump. Mr. Thune said returning to the bill will depend on the need to take on other pressing business in the weeks ahead.
Representative Lisa McClain of Michigan, a member of the House Republican leadership, conceded this week that “many families are struggling” even with higher tax refunds that were supposed to be the G.O.P.’s signature accomplishment from the party’s tax cutting legislation from last year.
As he addressed efforts to cope with the various misconduct cases roiling Congress at the moment, Speaker Mike Johnson could have been referring to the party’s broader difficulties as well.
“We’re doing the best we can under difficult circumstances,” he said.
