WASHINGTON – Conservative Republicans are rebelling against a possible deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security and alleviate long security lines at airports without the sweeping voter ID proposal President Donald Trump has demanded Congress pass ahead of the November midterm elections.

The deal has tentative backing from the White House, but conservatives aren’t backing down.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the leading proponent of the so-called SAVE America Act on Capitol Hill, pointed out the proposed scheme to fund DHS, and then approve election changes through a later budgetary resolution, simply is not allowed under Senate rules.

The special “budget reconciliation” process allowing the Senate to circumvent the filibuster and pass legislation via a simple majority vote prohibits provisions that are strictly policy and don’t actually affect the federal budget. That includes any provisions that contain merely incidental effects on the budget ― like, for example, requiring voter ID or restricting mail-in voting.

“The core provisions about voter ID and about citizenship verification, those are pretty core policy issues, and neither I nor any of the experts I’ve consulted can see a clear path for any of those,” Lee told HuffPost.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said “no” when asked if the plan, which Senate GOP leadership is discussing, is feasible.

“I’m trying to be realistic in terms of what you can do and what you can’t. I don’t see how that works,” he told HuffPost.

Republican leaders are hoping to immediately fund most of DHS, which has been partially shuttered since last month, leading to chaos at airports and frustration for many travelers. They would then try and pass the SAVE Act and funding for ICE and its enforcement operations at a later date using the reconciliation process, a risky gambit which could face all sorts of procedural challenges.

President Donald Trump had rejected the two-step process over the weekend, but has since changed his mind, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said he’d been told.

“I think we could save a lot of time if we knew specifically what the president has in mind,” Kennedy added.

A White House official, speaking anonymously, told HuffPost that conversations are ongoing “but this deal seems to be acceptable.”

The right-wing House Freedom Caucus put out a furious statement calling the two-step plan “gaslighting” by Republican senators because the voter registration and photo ID rules would be stricken from a reconciliation bill by the Senate parliamentarian.

“The American people are not stupid and will not accept more failure theater from Republicans in Congress,” the group said.

Lee and the Freedom Caucus have insisted the Senate could pass the SAVE America Act through a “talking filibuster” that would skirt the Senate’s filibuster rules. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate procedure experts have been adamant that the scheme would not work.

Kennedy, who said he initially proposed the reconciliation approach alongside Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), said it’s not obvious to him that the voting overhaul would fail.

“I’ve seen things that I didn’t think had a hope in hell, but the parliamentarian approved them, and vice-versa,” Kennedy told HuffPost.

But far more Republicans are skeptical about it.

“I think it would be pretty tough,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told HuffPost.

The DHS funding deal would need 60 votes in the Senate — meaning support from Democrats as well. And it’s no sure bet that it will get it.

Democratic senators are insisting on codifying reforms to ICE, like requiring that federal immigration officials wear masks and IDs. The White House has already expressed support for those measures, but some Democrats want them in law.

“The White House has already agreed with us on some of them. There’s no reason they can’t be in it,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said.

“I’m not going to fund ICE if there aren’t really significant reforms,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told HuffPost.

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