GOP Sen: Durbin threw ‘hand grenade’ into shutdown talks by confirming ‘s—hole’ remark

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) accused Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Thursday of tossing a “hand grenade” into negotiations over protections for certain young immigrants.   

In an interview on CNN, Johnson suggested that by corroborating media reports that Trump used vulgar language to describe certain countries, Durbin had essentially upended negotiations that could have staved off a looming government shutdown.

“Why would Dick Durbin leave that White House meeting behind closed doors and throw a hand grenade in those negotiations, if he actually was serious about fixing this problem?” Johnson said. 

{mosads}

“I think there would be an expectation that what was said behind closed doors in a passionate discussion would stay behind closed doors,” he added.

Durbin attended a meeting in the Oval Office last week, during which Trump reportedly decried immigration from “shithole countries” like Haiti, El Salvador and African nations instead of countries like Norway. The Illinois Democrat later confirmed media reports about the vulgar language’s usage. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who was also in the meeting, has said the reported comments are “basically accurate.”

Lawmakers are facing a midnight Friday deadline to pass a spending measure to keep the government running.

Democrats have said that any funding deal should include a legislative solution for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which offered young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children a temporary reprieve from deportation. Trump rescinded that program in September.

The House passed a short-term spending measure on Thursday. But the Senate has yet to do so, and the measure’s fate is less certain there.