Venezuela TPS fails in Senate, Scott and Rubio urge Trump to act

House and Senate Democrats are furious with Senate Republicans, claiming that Republicans blocked Venezuela TPS legislation in that chamber of Congress, as well as continuing to say that the Trump administration has not done enough for Venezuelans.

There was only one vote that “blocked” Venezuela TPS from passing, and that was the vote of Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who verbalized his opposition to the measure on the Senate floor.

Democratic Senators Dick Durbin and Bob Menendez made a push to pass the House version of TPS by unanimous consent on the Senate Floor today, but unfortunately for them, by trying  to bypass Senate procedure in calling for an unanimous voice vote, all it takes is for one Senator to oppose it, causing the attempt to pass the bill to fail.

Florida Senator Rick Scott (R), along with Sen. Marco Rubio (R), is a proponent of granting TPS to Venezuelans, did not condemn Sen. Lee’s opposition, instead urged his colleagues to “find a solution to allow TPS for Venezuelans.

“We need to find a solution now to allow TPS for Venezuelans,” stated Scott “Maduro is killing his citizens. It’s a genocide. Every passing day, the situation on the ground grows worse. I’m disappointed that the Administration has so far declined to approve TPS for Venezuelans, though I do understand their concerns about approving TPS without reforming the program. The courts have basically made a temporary program permanent, which is not sustainable. We need to protect the vulnerable Venezuelan population while making sure human rights violators are clearly identified as ineligible. I’m working with my colleagues on legislative solutions to this problem and am committed to working across the aisle to resolve any concerns.”

Rubio told the Miami Herald that a vote on TPS for Venezuelans was not going to happen before the August break.

“Not this week, I don’t anticipate movement on it,” Rubio said in an interview with the Miami Herald. “I anticipate hopefully getting the administration to do something. That’s what we’ve been working on behind the scenes here, we’ve made a little progress on it. We have 17 votes already scheduled this week, a bunch of nominees, the spending bill, the veto override. The votes this week have already been scheduled.”

President Trump could sign an executive order granting TPS, but has only said that his administration would continue to monitor the immigration crisis in Venezuela.

Democrats are crying foul, saying that Trump hasn’t done enough to counter the human rights atrocities Venezuelan Dictator Nicholas Maduro and his government have perpetrated.