The White House struck back at Senator Lindsey Graham Sunday after the lawmaker’s assertion that presidential advisor Stephen Miller is ruining negotiations over immigration policy amidst the ongoing government shutdown.
Graham told reporters Sunday afternoon that “as long as Stephen Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration we are going no where. He’s been an outlier for years.” The senator’s comments come as negotiations continue between Republican and Democratic lawmakers over a path forward to re-open the federal government.
Senator Graham: “As long as Steven Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration we are going no where. He’s been an outlier for years.” pic.twitter.com/6aR42Jeiu7
— Alan He (@alanhe) January 21, 2018
“As long as Senator Graham chooses to support legislation that sides with people in this country illegally and unlawfully instead of our own American citizens, we are going nowhere. He’s been an outlier for years,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement.
Senate Democrats blocked passage of a bill to fund the federal government Friday as a measure of frustration in negotiations with the White House over protections for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Democrats have yet to indicate what exactly they want in exchange for an end to the shutdown and conversations between the White House and both chambers of Congress are ongoing.