A follow-up on that Washington Times piece on the immigration-bill negotiations. The Dinan piece also has this:
One Senate Republican aide who has been following the negotiations said the issue came up at a meeting this week, and Mr. Chertoff stood by while Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Sen. Arlen Specter tried to sign off on enforcement provisions without including the safeguards.
“When Cornyn stepped out of the meeting, the above three tried to get everyone to sign off on Title II without any of these provisions,” the aide said.
Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, one of the lead Republican negotiators, objected on Mr. Cornyn’s behalf, leaving the issue still undecided.
Republicans say the administration is caving because it doesn’t want to lose Mr. Kennedy’s support for a deal.
The White House may be using Kyl for cover, but if that story’s true, he’s not making it easy for them.