President Donald Trump signs an executive order to keep families together at the border, but says that the 'zero-tolerance' prosecution policy will continue, during an event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 20, 2018. Standing behind Trump are Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, left, and Vice President Mike Pence. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Watched by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (L) and Vice President Mike Pence, US President Donald Trump signs an executive order on immigration in the Oval Office of the White House on June 20, 2018 in Washington, DC. - US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order aimed at putting an end to the controversial separation of migrant families at the border, reversing a harsh practice that had earned international scorn. "It's about keeping families together," Trump said at the signing ceremony. "I did not like the sight of families being separated," he added. (Photo by Mandel Ngan / AFP) (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) Immigrant children walk in a line outside the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children, a former Job Corps site that now houses them, on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, in Homestead, Fla. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 29: Demonstrators hold a rally in the Little village neighborhood calling for the elimination of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and an end to family detentions on June 29, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Protests have erupted around the country recently as people voice outrage over the separation and detention of undocumented children and their parents. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Central American immigrants depart ICE custody, pending future immigration court hearings on June 11, 2018 in McAllen, Texas. Thousands of undocumented immigrants continue to cross into the U.S., despite the Trump administration's recent "zero tolerance" approach to immigration policy. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) (CNN) — House Republicans, facing failure on passing their leadership-backed compromise immigration bill, reverted to a tried-and-true escape hatch when it comes to immigration: postpone and keep negotiating. It’s a process that has taken place repeatedly – to some degree for years – and has never netted an actual GOP-only bill that can get a majority in the House. Will one more weekend of talks change that? Senior aides who have been through this a dozen or so times are understandably very skeptical. But we’ll see. Bottom line: President Donald Trump says don’t even bother. The Senate Majority Leader, Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, has no intention of taking up a House proposal that will fall well short of the votes needed to pass in the chamber. As of noon Thursday, aides said the immigration bill wasn’t just short of the votes – it was well short of the votes. It would be quite something to turn that around in 72 hours. What negotiators are working on Two specific issues are in play: an expansion of the e-verify system and addressing farm state lawmaker concerns of agriculture visas. To be perfectly clear, these are not clean or easy issues. The are complicated thickets that bring in a lot of different business and constituent elements that likely will only serve to bring new problems to the table. Or, as one aide working on this put it last night: “It has been years. Seriously, there is no silver bullet.” House members are in town for another few hours, so getting the parameters of negotiations will be the most newsworthy endeavor. Beyond that, things should be fairly quiet. How negotiators are framing it As Rep. Jeff Denham, a California Republican and the lead moderate negotiator, put it Thursday night after the closed-door briefing, the issues are new to this negotiation and may – may – provide some kind of path forward on the votes. “We’re having a discussion about E-Verify and Ag jobs – two very important issues that we’ve yet to discuss so far, so we’re going to spend the weekend and delay the vote until next week to see if we can come to a compromise on those final two issues,” Denham said. To give you a sense of how fast things developed and what happened inside the closed-door briefing last night that led to this – 20 minutes before it ended, people inside told CNN the vote would be Friday and nothing had changed to forestall its inevitable failure. Then, with more than three quarters of the GOP conference already gone from the meeting, House Speaker Paul Ryan gave the go-ahead for the lead negotiators to keep talking through the weekend. Twelve hours after House leaders made the last minute decision to give their members a few more days to negotiate, Trump tweeted this: “Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November.” In the Senate Amid the continued House negotiations, across the chamber there is now a renewed bipartisan focus on finding a targeted, bipartisan solution to the family separation issue. The reality is this: There is no faith on Capitol Hill in either party that the President’s executive order 1) goes far enough or 2) is anything more than temporary. Meetings are expected to continue on Monday. Keep your eyes on Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein – hardly a natural bipartisan negotiating duo, but two lawmakers diametrically opposed to one another on ideological grounds who are attempting to find a path forward on legislation. The pathway for a bipartisan, targeted bill on family separation is still very, very unclear. But the Senate will lead the way and try and force the hand of their House counterparts. We’ll have to wait and see if anything develops. At this point, there still isn’t an obvious way of getting a bill through both chambers, aides in both parties have made clear, but the public outcry and pressure surrounding the chaos that has occurred post-executive order may spur something.<doc-sep>“Game over,” Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) said during an interview on CNN. “It takes the wind out of the sails in what might have been a fairly productive week in terms of looking for compromise. I don’t know how it happens, because if you look at how contentious this issue is, how much emotion there is, without the president being out front — without the president having legislators’ backs — there’s no way they’re going to take the risks that would be inherent in a major reform bill.”<doc-sep>Sign Up For Newsletters Woman receives gift of motherhood after cancer diagnosis Stacey Abrams on writing herself into the story – and history Maya Angelou and Sally Ride to be honored on quarters Dancers seek to rid ballet performances of Asian stereotypes China's censors cut some new friends from the "Friends" reunion Lawmakers call for ambassador to protect Afghan women Boat carrying 20 overturns heading from Cuba to Florida SolarWinds hackers have launched new campaign, Microsoft says "3-martini lunch" tax break should be axed, lawmakers say Flying over Memorial Day? Expect long lines at airports Some great white sharks are getting closer to humans, videos show Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On<doc-sep>After repeatedly saying Congress needs to solve the immigration problem, President Donald Trump on Friday called on lawmakers to delay dealing with the critical issue until after the midterm elections — while accusing Democrats of concocting politically motivated "phony stories of sadness and grief" on the border. We must maintain a Strong Southern Border. We cannot allow our Country to be overrun by illegal immigrants as the Democrats tell their phony stories of sadness and grief, hoping it will help them in the elections. Obama and others had the same pictures, and did nothing about it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2018 "Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November," Trump tweeted. "Dems are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave!" Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November. Dems are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2018 Elect more Republicans in November and we will pass the finest, fairest and most comprehensive Immigration Bills anywhere in the world. Right now we have the dumbest and the worst. Dems are doing nothing but Obstructing. Remember their motto, RESIST! Ours is PRODUCE! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2018 Even if we get 100% Republican votes in the Senate, we need 10 Democrat votes to get a much needed Immigration Bill - & the Dems are Obstructionists who won’t give votes for political reasons & because they don’t care about Crime coming from Border! So we need to elect more R’s! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2018 The tweets come as lawmakers are continuing to try to find a way forward on immigration. The House announced Thursday that it had postponed a vote on a moderate compromise immigration bill until next week. Another immigration measure, supported by conservatives, was defeated in a floor vote Thursday. The call for a delay is yet another stunning about-face for Trump, who earlier this week had tweeted, "Now is the best opportunity ever for Congress to change the ridiculous and obsolete laws on immigration." #CHANGETHELAWS Now is the best opportunity ever for Congress to change the ridiculous and obsolete laws on immigration. Get it done, always keeping in mind that we must have strong border security. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2018 House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told NBC News that the House will still vote on the GOP compromise immigration bill next week, despite Trump's tweets calling for a delay. "I think we are doing quite well on the bill because the conference together is working on it," McCarthy said Tuesday. "I think it's important that the House be able to show that we can take the action." Asked if the tweet was damaging, McCarthy spun back on Democrats, saying, "For the Democrats it's very damaging. They show that they're not serious about solving this issue. There's an opportunity and a willingness on our part and they're nowhere to work on it." Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., dismissed the impact of Trump's tweet. "I don’t know that it affects vote totals at all. Everybody is proceeding as they were," he said. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., also said Friday that the House would still vote next week on the compromise immigration bill. He did acknowledge that passing the compromise bill will continue to be an “uphill battle.” Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., a moderate Republican who led the charge on the immigration discharge petition, dismissed the impact of the president's tweet Friday. "We’re going to keep working. There are a lot of members dedicated to making this happen," Curbelo told NBC News. "We had major breakthroughs yesterday. A lot of members are excited about getting something done on immigration so we’re going to continue working. We have another meeting later today." Curbelo said he's not disappointed by the president's tweet because Trump "changes his mind often so I'm confident that if we get a good product out, that he'll get behind it." Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., another moderate, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that the Congress should continue working on immigration legislation. "I respectfully disagree," Lance said, reacting to Trump's tweet. "I think we should continue to work on it." "It doesn’t help, I’ll be honest," Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, told reporters reacting to Trump's tweet. "What we wanted was for the president to say vote ‘yes’ next week on the compromise bill. To be fair to the president, he’s being realistic. You’ve got to have 60 votes in the senate so that is a pretty tough bar to meet." Retiring Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., said she's frustrated with the president. "It’s just...you just fear that tweet in the morning, saying, 'Oh no, how many policies are you going to do by the day’s end?'" she told reporters. "How many times will he change his mind?" Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., said the tweet might have been fatal to any push for legislative action on the issue. "I think it probably kills off the possibility of immigration moving forward," he said, even though "you never say never," Meanwhile, retiring moderate Rep. Ryan Costello, R-Pa., suggested that the president's tweet had essentially killed the effort. "Torpedoed by tweet. tweet-pedoed," he tweeted. After GOP leaders decided Thursday to delay the vote on the compromise immigration bill, during a two-hour House GOP conference Thursday evening, members discussed potentially adding E-verify and agricultural visa work provisions into the compromise bill. The addition of these provision could tilt the bill slightly more conservative and will likely garner more votes across the caucus as a result. However, members from across the ideological spectrum said they would hash out a compromise on these two issues, which is why they decided to delay the vote until next week.<doc-sep>
President Donald Trump signs an executive order to keep families together at the border, but says that the 'zero-tolerance' prosecution policy will continue, during an event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 20, 2018. Standing behind Trump are Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, left, and Vice President Mike Pence. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Watched by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (L) and Vice President Mike Pence, US President Donald Trump signs an executive order on immigration in the Oval Office of the White House on June 20, 2018 in Washington, DC. - US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order aimed at putting an end to the controversial separation of migrant families at the border, reversing a harsh practice that had earned international scorn. "It's about keeping families together," Trump said at the signing ceremony. "I did not like the sight of families being separated," he added. (Photo by Mandel Ngan / AFP) (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) Immigrant children walk in a line outside the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children, a former Job Corps site that now houses them, on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, in Homestead, Fla. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 29: Demonstrators hold a rally in the Little village neighborhood calling for the elimination of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and an end to family detentions on June 29, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Protests have erupted around the country recently as people voice outrage over the separation and detention of undocumented children and their parents. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Central American immigrants depart ICE custody, pending future immigration court hearings on June 11, 2018 in McAllen, Texas. Thousands of undocumented immigrants continue to cross into the U.S., despite the Trump administration's recent "zero tolerance" approach to immigration policy. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) (CNN) — For weeks, House Republican leaders have been working behind closed doors to thread the needle on an immigration bill that could secure the support of the bulk on their conference. On Friday morning, President Donald Trump ended all that with a tweet. “Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November,” Trump tweeted. “Dems are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave!” And, boom goes the dynamite. Now. The so-called “compromise” legislation – constructed by House Speaker Paul Ryan to make moderates and conservative happy – was already on life support before Trump came in and pulled the plug. A vote on the measure was originally scheduled for Thursday. It was then set for Friday. Then late Thursday, it was postponed until next week as GOP leaders insisted they saw a glimmer of hope to write a bill that might actually pass the House. That hope is dead now. Imagine you are a conservative Republican resistant to the “compromise” bill because it provides a path to citizenship for DACA recipients. You now have every reason in the world not to come to the table and take a tough vote. The President literally said there was no point! The question before Ryan and the rest of his leadership team is whether there’s even any merit in trying to push for a vote on the compromise bill next week – or even if it’s worth making some of the changes on things like E-verify that their members expressed a desire for over the past 48 hours. The problem with pushing for a vote on a bill that’s doomed is you put your members in a very difficult place. Please vote for this legislation – that includes $25 billion to fund Trump’s border wall – even though it has zero chance of passing in the Senate and the President is on record as saying the fight is pointless. On the other hand, moderates – and many members in swing districts – within the conference want to be able to vote on something regarding DACA before November so that they can go back to their constituents and say they are working hard to address the immigration problem.