The Senate is moving forward on its sentencing and prisons reform bill but Republicans are still fighting about it, Politico reports. As Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) set up next week‘s votes on the bill, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) sought to make last-minute changes to reflect a compromise supporters reached with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Cruz had endorsed the bill because it was supposed to bar many violent criminals from early release, but the version introduced this week did not include all the exclusions Cruz wants. The bill‘s chief critic, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), joined an intense discussion with McConnell, Lee and Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) on the Senate floor, with Lee arguing that changes should be made to increase the bill‘s conservative support.
The Senate will start considering a version without all of Cruz’s changes and without a provision that would allow faith-based groups to participate in anti-recidivism programs. The number of amendments allowed will be limited. The bill needs 60 votes to pass. Cotton and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) will try to add new exclusions to people who qualify for reduced sentences, including some sex offenders. One senator said passage of the amendment “would scuttle the carefully negotiated deal we have on this bill. So we’ll have to defeat it. And we will.” The senator said many Senate Democrats would probably defect from the legislation if the Cotton amendment passed. Kennedy said, “There are many senators who are very nervous about this bill and don’t like it and are opposed to it.” Lee said he’s spoken to Jared Kushner, President Trump’s adviser and son-in-law five times a day in recent weeks to get the bill done. Lee he credited Kushner for assisting “in getting the conservative media behind this bill and in countless other ways.”