We Now Know Who Killed the Tillis Amnesty Deal in the Senate

Sen. Thom Tillis’ (R-NC) amnesty push is dead. That might be the best political Christmas gift in years—it’s undoubtedly the best news coming from the Hill in a long time. Tillis was working with Democrat defector Krysten Sinema (I-AZ) to get millions of illegal aliens on the citizenship track. You all know the details of the poison pill stipulation in the bill. The first 2 million Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients would be able to sponsor their extended family members when they’ve completed the process. It didn’t secure the border or remove the issue from the table. It just set the stage for another mass amnesty, even for the next generation.

As this heinous piece of legislation was making its way on the Hill, where was Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), leader of the Senate Republicans? There was fear that he hoped this bill would die on the vine. No clue yet what happened behind closed doors, but as we approached Christmas—it seemed the Kentucky Republican decided to whip out the sickle and channel his reputation toward liberal action items. Reportedly, he told Sinema and Tillis that this cockamamie pro-illegal immigration legislation wouldn’t be attached to the year-end omnibus bill. That’s where this legislation passed the Grassy Knoll, back and to the left gone (via WaPo):

What happened? Tillis and Sinema were negotiating over bill text, much of which had been written, as late as Wednesday night. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) informed Sinema and Tillis that he wouldn’t allow it to be attached to the end-of-year spending omnibus bill, effectively killing it, one of the sources tells me.