"Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough urged Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday not to vote for a spending deal to keep the government running unless Republicans agree on a "clean" legislative solution to protect immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, often called "Dreamers."

"Republicans own Washington, D.C. You should not give them a single vote in keeping the government running," Scarborough, a former Florida GOP congressman, said on the MSNBC show. "That's their job. This is their government, this is their Congress, this is their presidency."

"The American people said they wanted Republicans to run Washington, D.C. Let them run Washington, D.C.," he added. "Don't give them a single vote unless they give you a clean bill on Dreamers."

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Scarborough's comments came as Republicans and Democrats struggle to reach a deal on a spending measure to evade a government shutdown. If they fail to reach an agreement, the government will shut down at midnight on Friday.

Democrats are demanding that any spending measure include a deal to enshrine into law the protections of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which offered temporary reprieve from deportation and work permissions to hundreds of thousands of young immigrants.

At the same time, President Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE has insisted that any deal on DACA increase border security and provide funding for his long-promised wall between the U.S. and Mexico.