WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans have blocked a Democratic resolution to require more transparency from the Trump administration about deportations to El Salvador.
The vote Thursday was the latest attempt by minority Democrats to force Senate votes disapproving of Trump administration policy. The Senate rejected, 45-50, the motion to discharge the resolution from committee and consider it immediately on the floor.
“This information is critical at a time when the Trump Administration has admitted to wrongfully deporting people to El Salvador, and after Trump has said he’s also looking for ways to deport American citizens to the same terrible prisons,” said Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the lead sponsor of the resolution.
The resolution blocked by Republicans would force administration officials to report to Congress about what steps it is taking to comply with courts that have ruled on the deportations. Democrats have highlighted the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to the Central American country and who a Maryland judge has said should be returned to the U.S.
Democrats want to put Republicans on record on that case and others while also pressuring the government of El Salvador, which is working with the Trump administration. The resolution would also require the Trump administration to reveal more information about money paid to El Salvador and assess the country's human rights record.
It's just the latest example of Democrats using the legislative tools available to them in the minority to try to challenge Trump's agenda.
The Senate in early April passed a resolution that would have have thwarted Trump's ability to impose tariffs on Canada, and Republicans narrowly blocked a similar resolution later that month that would have stalled Trump's global tariffs. Four Republicans voted with Democrats on the first tariff measure, and three Republicans voted with them on the second resolution. No Republicans joined Democrats on Thursday's measure on El Salvador.
The Democrats are forcing the votes under different statutes that allow so-called “privileged” resolutions — legislation that must be brought up for a vote whether majority leadership wants to or not. The resolution rejected Thursday was under the Foreign Assistance Act, which allows any senator to force a vote to request information on a country’s human rights practices.
Separately, a group of Democrats led by Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio Thursday to ask about the U.S. payment to El Salvador for the prisoners. The senators demanded a “detailed explanation from the Department of State as to whether, and if so how, it concluded that this payment was lawful.”
The Democrats say they will continue to push for more votes. Also Thursday, Kaine and several other Democrats filed a joint resolution of disapproval to try to block a $1.9 billion arms sale to Qatar at the same time that the country is offering to donate a $400 million luxury jet as Trump's Air Force One. If the Senate Foreign Relations Committee does not consider the resolution, Democrats could force another vote on the Senate floor.
“Unless Qatar rescinds their offer of a ‘palace in the sky’ or Trump turns it down, I will move to block this arms sale,” said Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a member of the Foreign Relations panel who is leading the effort with Kaine and others.
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