| | | | If you blinked, you missed the immigration fight | | Remember that big, amendment-laden debate the Senate was preparing for as the world's greatest deliberative body began to grapple with what to do about the nation's broken immigration system?
Yeah, it's over.
The actual debate over a series of proposals -- a conservative one, a compromise one -- lasted less than a day. Actually, less than an afternoon.
No proposal was able to get the 60 votes required to end debate.
"I don't see it," Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican, said of the possibility of the Senate taking up immigration again. "We couldn't get it together this week. We've got other things we have to do, which are pressing."
So that's it.
"I'm sorry, I'm out of breath," Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, said after the vote. "I'm exhausted from that 13-minute debate we had on immigration."
The truth of the matter is that the bipartisan attempt to thread the needle between Trump's demand for $25 billion in border wall funding and Democrats' desire to save the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was doomed hours after it was revealed Wednesday night.
The White House made clear it actively opposed the deal and threw its support behind the more conservative option offered by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) that largely mirrored Trump's own plan. (That legislation got only 39 votes; 11 Republicans didn't vote for it.)
There are simply not 60 votes for ANY sort of immigration proposals. Conservatives won't vote for something that they believe offers a pathway to citizenship for broad swaths of people brought to the country illegally. Liberals have zero interest in voting for a bill that allocates massive amounts of money for a border wall that they believe won't accomplish much of anything.
Which means any attempt to reform the immigration system in the country will require a creative new approach that, candidly, no one seems to have.
"I don't know where we go from here," acknowledged South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of the leading advocates for immigration reform, after Thursday's failure.
The Point: Finding any sort of large-scale compromise solution on immigration is almost certainly dead. A DACA fix or some other small-bore changes might still happen. But anything close to comprehensive reform will have to wait until at least 2019. And likely longer.
-- Chris | | FLORIDA SHOOTING: REACTION ROUNDUP | | Here's a look at some of the responses in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead. - "If you need help, turn to a teacher, a family member, a local police officer or a faith leader. Answer hate with love, answer cruelty with kindness." -- President Donald Trump, addressing children in America (he did not mention guns or gun control).
- "I don't think that means you then roll that conversation into taking away citizens' rights -- taking away a law-abiding citizen's rights. Obviously, this conversation typically goes there. Right now, I think we need to take a breath and collect the facts." -- House Speaker Paul Ryan in an interview with Tom Katz on Indiana radio station WIBC.
- "But I think we can and must do better. We owe it to every one of those kids crying outside their school yesterday and all those who never made it out. Our hearts are hurting today." -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions
- "When is enough going to be enough?." -- Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson on the Senate floor.
- "We are grieving with Parkland. But we are not powerless. Caring for our kids is our first job. And until we can honestly say that we're doing enough to keep them safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change." -- former President Barack Obama
- "Ideas are wonderful and they help you get re-elected and everything, but what's more important is actual action ... that results in saving thousands of children's lives. Please — take action."-- David Hogg, student who survived the Florida shooting, in an interview with CNN
| | | Frank Ocean did a cover of "Moon River," the song performed by Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." You can listen here. | | | The Point is now on Instagram, thanks to CNN's Brenna Williams. Click on CNN Politics' Instagram story every Monday through Friday afternoon for more #content. | | CNN's Greg Krieg reports: "Sen. Bernie Sanders will join progressive groups in Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan next week as part of a nationwide campaign to drum up grassroots opposition against the new Republican-backed tax law ahead of the midterm elections.
The Vermont independent will take direct aim at Trump-era Republicans' signature legislative achievement in those three key states, two of which, Michigan and Wisconsin, were instrumental in the President's 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton.
Sanders, who already announced plans to stump for Pete D'Alessandro, a 2016 aide now running for Congress, on February 23 in Des Moines, Iowa, is scheduled to headline an event in Cedar Rapids that evening, before leading rallies the next two days in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Lansing, Michigan. He will also host a rally for Democrat Randy Bryce, who is running in Wisconsin's first congressional district, home to House Speaker Paul Ryan, during his time in the state."
Read more in Greg's story here. | | CNN's Ariane de Vogue reports: "A federal appeals court ruled against the latest version of President Donald Trump's travel ban on Thursday, holding that it 'continues to exhibit a primarily religious anti-Muslim objective.'
The 9-4 ruling from the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals comes after the Supreme Court agreed to take up a separate challenge to the President's proclamation, issued last September.
Because that case is pending before the justices, the latest ruling from the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals will not change the current status quo. For now, the Supreme Court has allowed the third iteration of the travel ban to go fully into effect pending the resolution of the issue by late June."
Read more in Ariane's story here. | | SPECIAL COUNSEL QUESTIONS BANNON | | CNN's Kara Scannell reported Thursday: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team questioned former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon for hours over two days this week, according to a person familiar with the inquiry.
Bannon is one of the few individuals in President Donald Trump's inner circle to be interviewed by Mueller's team, which is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. He played a key role in the final weeks of the presidential campaign, attended meetings during the transition that are now under scrutiny, and continued in a top advisory role in the West Wing until he left in August.
Mueller's investigators were expected to ask Bannon about the firings of FBI Director James Comey and national security adviser Michael Flynn, people familiar with the inquiry previously told CNN." | | | No GIF today out of respect for victims of the high school shooting in Florida. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | | | | |
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