WASHINGTON _ An urgent push by Democrats to pass a measure in Congress that would give Venezuelans temporary legal status in the U.S. is running up against the clock, with the House of Representatives set to go into summer recess Friday.
To get the measure to a vote, House Democrats are suspending the rules so they can quickly take up a bill to grant Venezuelans Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, sponsored by Florida Reps. Darren Soto, a Democrat, and Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican. But suspending the rules, a move normally used for noncontroversial bills like renaming post offices, comes with a catch: to pass, the bill must win support of two-thirds of the House instead of a simple majority.
That means about 55 Republicans _ the exact number depends on how many members show up to vote on the bill _ will need to side with Democrats on a bill that allows a specific group of undocumented immigrants to live and work legally in the U.S. without winning conservative concessions like funding for a border wall.
