From Fox News:

A deal for a vote at a 60-vote threshold on the amendment would align with a practice sometimes used by the Senate when a minority is demanding a vote on an amendment the majority is highly invested in blocking.

“You will accept the higher threshold on your amendment if the majority leader doesn’t fill the [bill’s amendment tree] and lets you offer it,” said R Street Institute senior fellow for governance James Wallner. “You’re just cutting to the end of it. You’re not forcing everybody to go through all the cloture hurdles.”

“[If] Republicans now are going to accept the 60-vote threshold… I think they’re doing it because they just want the issue in the campaign,” Wallner said.

But there is plenty of cynicism on Democrats’ side of the aisle too, Wallner added.

“I don’t want to sound condescending here, but at what point did getting a vote on an amendment become a deal-breaker in the United States Senate?” Wallner said.

Part of the background for Schumer’s handling of the issue is the fact it’s an election year, Wallner said.

“Immigration is one of those issues that is a lot more divisive, or I guess cross-cutting in the Senate than most people think,” Wallner said. “So both sides generally try to keep it away from the floor when they are in control.”

Wallner added: “Especially before a big election when you don’t want to reveal a lot of divisions in our party, it makes sense in Schumer’s position, he wants to avoid that, especially given the ongoing tension between moderates and progressives.”

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