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Happy Friday morning.

Will a gun-control bill be enacted?

For the first time since negotiations began last week in the wake of several horrific mass shootings, there are serious doubts that a deal can be reached by Sens. Chris Murphy (Conn.) and John Cornyn (Texas), the lead Democratic and GOP negotiators on the package.

Republicans insist Democrats must move in their direction on the so-called “boyfriend loophole,” a provision that bars domestic abusers from getting guns. Republicans want to make sure claims from long dormant relationships don’t impact the ability of someone to buy a gun. Democrats want to broaden the language.

There are also unresolved issues over the red-flag provisions, although senators familiar with the matter believe those can still be closed out.

So will a deal happen? Is there enough trust possible in hyperpartisan, 50-50 Senate for an agreement on such a controversial topic to be finalized? And if so, when?

None of this is clear right now. Murphy and Cornyn announced a “framework” on a gun-control package last Sunday, which in itself was a milestone. Twenty senators publicly declared their support for the effort, including 10 Republicans, enough votes to overcome a GOP filibuster. Congress looked like it was ready to do something it hadn’t done in nearly three decades – pass significant gun-control legislation.

The challenge was turning the Murphy-Cornyn framework into actual legislative text that can pass, and so far, a breakthrough on that front has eluded the pair, who are also working with Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

Democrats privately aren’t convinced yet that Cornyn is willing to reach a final agreement. Democrats are eager to wrap up talks quickly – immediately – in order to get a bill moving toward the floor before the July 4 recess. If the negotiations drag on much beyond that, Democrats aren’t sure that it will ever happen. The urgency of now is very much on Democrats’ minds.

Republicans say the negotiations will continue, but caution that there’s no agreement yet. The GOP is not on the same timeline as Democrats. This is especially true for Cornyn. The internal Senate and Texas politics are complex for him, and Cornyn is a cautious guy anyway. He’s stepped out on a political ledge trying to cut this deal, and he won’t get rushed.

“We don’t have a deal about anything unless we have a deal about everything,” Cornyn told our friends Leigh Ann Caldwell at Washington Post and other reporters on Thursday afternoon. “I’m frustrated. I’m not as optimistic right now, but we’re continuing to work.”

Cornyn flew back to Texas Thursday evening, and the Senate doesn’t come back into session until Tuesday. The Texas Republican convention is in Houston this weekend, and Cornyn is scheduled to speak. We’ll be very interested to see his reception there.

Staffers for both sides are still holding discussions and drafting language on the topics where there has been agreement. That’s the easy part. Getting the final disputes resolved is the challenge.

Tillis cautioned not to read too much into Cornyn’s absence, as did Murphy.

Here’s Murphy:

On an issue as weighty as this, there’s a thin line between judging whether something is a negotiating tactic or a real disagreement that will sink a legislative compromise. It’s difficult to see Republicans walking away from negotiations after they’ve put so much time and effort into it, but again, Cornyn would rather not agree to a deal than take one that’s seen as a “bad,” sources close to the Texas Republican said.

The Coverage

→	NYT: “Gun Talks Snag on Tricky Question: What Counts as a Boyfriend?” by Emily Cochrane and Stephanie Lai

→	WSJ: “Gun Talks Stall on Red-Flag Laws, Domestic Abuser Rules,” by Natalie Andrews, Lindsay Wise and Teresa Mettela

→	AP: “GOP, Dem Senate bargainers divided over gun deal details,” by Alan Fram

Programming note: We will only have an AM edition Monday because of Juneteenth.

– Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Max Cohen

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