| CONGRESS: It is becoming increasingly unlikely that Congress will pass a disaster aid package on Thursday as immigration-related issues have thrown a wrench in negotiations for appropriators despite continued talks toward an accord. As Jordain Carney reports, the sticking point centers on how much of the administration's $4.5 billion request for emergency funding for the U.S.-Mexico border will be included in the disaster aid package. Of the $4.5 billion requested, $3.3 billion was included for humanitarian assistance. An additional $1.1 billion would go toward border operations, such as increasing the number of detention beds, which Democrats say is a non-starter. While Democrats have agreed to monies for humanitarian aid, they have refused to budge on funding for detention beds. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) told reporters that “several” issues remain unresolved before a potential deal is struck. The two sides largely have the rest of the package in place, including more than $17 billion in aid for communities affected by hurricanes, wildfires and extreme flooding. "I'm hoping they're not insurmountable," Shelby said. "I think right at the moment it's in abeyance. It's not there yet." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has insisted multiple times that there will be a vote before senators leave town for the Memorial Day holiday, though it remains unknown what the Senate will vote on if no agreement is reached. According to one GOP aide, the plan is still to vote on a bill before senators leave town. 
© Getty Images > While lawmakers were cautiously optimistic earlier in the week that a framework deal on budget caps would be reached before the Memorial Day recess, those hopes faded. "The first meeting went pretty well, [and] the second meeting not as well,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Wednesday. “I think it will take a little more time." According to Juliegrace Brufke and Niv Elis, disagreements over non-defense, discretionary spending remain a key sticking point between parties, with Republicans arguing Democrats are requesting “obscene” levels of spending. And while offers continue to be exchanged, no additional meetings between the “big four” — Pelosi, Schumer, McCarthy, and McConnell — and administration officials have been scheduled, according to a Democratic aide. After a meeting ran long and resulted in a second get-together on Tuesday, negotiators seemed poised to strike a deal. McConnell said he expected an agreement by the end of the day. However, the second meeting ended quickly. A House aide told The Hill it was "more likely that we’ll discover the moon is made of green cheese” than resolve the differences by Friday. The Associated Press: Democrats slam McConnell for delay on a domestic violence bill. *** POLITICS & CAMPAIGNS: Sensing that her campaign has stalled, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is planning to make the case for her own electability in the coming weeks as she seeks to revive the momentum her bid for the White House captured in its early months. As Amie Parnes writes, Harris’s campaign has sagged over the past month since former Vice President Joe Biden jumped into the 2020 race and became the clear front-runner. However, she has also been leapfrogged by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg in polling, and has found it challenging to break through the newscycle. The California Democrat believes her campaign is entering a new phase of the race after an initial stage aimed at introducing her. "It's a crowded field, and I think she'll emphasize why she's the best candidate to win," one ally told The Hill. 
© Getty Images The New York Times: 2020 Democrats on impeachment: What the candidates have said. The Hill: Disability advocates seeing new spotlight on their concerns from 2020 Democrats. > Politico: “Wrong on most everything”: GOP smacks down Biden’s bipartisanship: “Joe Biden is making his bipartisan bona fides a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, boasting recently that he persuaded three Republican senators to support the economic stimulus that helped save the country from catastrophe. “‘It was my job to find them. To persuade them to vote for it. And I did,’ he said in Philadelphia this weekend. “The only problem: Olympia Snowe is retired, Arlen Specter is dead and Susan Collins will be defeated if Democrats get their way next year. So when the former vice president talks about the GOP having an ‘epiphany’ and working with him if and when he beats President Donald Trump, lawmakers in both parties are skeptical. “‘If anyone can do it, it would be Joe Biden,’ said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). ‘But a lot of those people are gone. States have changed. Washington’s changed.’” Los Angeles Times: Biden’s campaign pitch: Make America normal again. The Atlantic: Waiting for Obama. The Associated Press: Democratic pledges against big money come with an asterisk. Elsewhere on the political scene … Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) announced Wednesday that she will not attend a fundraiser for Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), one of the last remaining Democrats in the House who opposes abortion, after a string of abortion laws and legislation have brought the issue to the forefront in 2020 (Politico) … Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) received strong marks for his CNN town hall performance on Tuesday night, but viewers did not seem interested as he drew only 745,000. By contrast, more people watched a town hall with former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper in March (Deadline). | 
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