Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., seems to be up for any solution to end the ongoing government shutdown.
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, a spokesperson for Manchin said the West Virginia lawmaker would vote for both of the competing bills that the Senate will vote on Thursday afternoon.
Both measures – one proposed by Republicans and backed by President Trump, and another by Democrats - would reopen federal agencies and pay 800,000 federal workers who are days from missing yet another paycheck. But the Republican proposal would couple ending the 34-day shutdown with $5.7 billion for Trump's border wall and revamping immigration laws, while Democrats’ solution would reopen agency doors for three weeks while bargainers seek a budget accord.
FOX NEWS POLL; VOTERS SEE SHUTDOWN AS BIGGER PROBLEM THAN BORDER SITUATION
The dueling pieces of legislation, however, both appear likely to fail as every proposal needs 60 votes to advance in the Senate, which is under 53-47 Republican control.
"It's hard to imagine 60 votes developing for either one," said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. GOP moderates such as Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine are expected to vote for the Democratic plan, as is Cory Gardner of Colorado, one of the few Republicans representing a state carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016.
With the impacts of the shutdown becoming increasingly painful, however, lawmakers on both sides were trumpeting their willingness to compromise in the battle over border security and immigration issues such as protection against deportation for so-called Dreamer immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.
"It's clear what the president wants. It's clear what we want. If you have a negotiation, both parties are going to put on the table what they want," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. "By definition a successful negotiation gets to a place where both sides feel they got something, right?"
CRACKS IN BORDER WALL RESISTANCE? PELOSI FACING DEM PRESSURE TO DEAL WITH TRUMP, END SHUTDOWN
The partial shutdown began just before Christmas after Trump indicated that he wouldn't sign a stopgap spending bill backed by top Republicans like Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who shepherded a bill funding the government up to Feb. 8 through the Senate. The House passed a plan with wall funding as one of the last gasps of the eight-year GOP majority.
On Thursday, almost five weeks later, House Democrats continued work on a package that would ignore Trump's demand for $5.7 billion for a wall with Mexico and would instead pay for other ideas aimed at protecting the border.
Details of Democrats' border security plan and its cost remained a work in progress. Party leaders said it would include money for scanning devices and other technological tools for improving security at ports of entry and along the boundary, plus funds for more border agents and immigration judges.
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The Senate GOP bill would temporarily shield from deportation 700,000 "Dreamers," protections Trump has tried to terminate. He's also offered temporary protections for people who fled violence or natural disasters in several countries — another program the president has curtailed.
A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released Wednesday was the latest indicator that the shutdown is hurting Trump with the general public. While his approval among Republicans remains strong, just 34 percent of Americans like his performance as president and 6 in 10 assign a great deal of responsibility to him for the shutdown, around double the share blaming Democrats.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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