Biden is trying to give ‘political cover’ to vulnerable Senate Democrats ahead of the 2024 elections by reviving ‘failed’ $22.5 billion border bill, Republicans claim
House Republicans said Democrats’ latest attempt to pass a border bill was just a “political cover” for vulnerable members of the party and promised it would be “dead on arrival.”
Senate Democrats will try again to pass a bipartisan border security bill this week, after an earlier attempt failed when enough Republicans withdrew their support at the urging of former President Donald Trump.
“I hope Republicans and Democrats can work together to pass the bipartisan border bill this coming week,” Senate Majority Leader Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a letter to senators.
But Republicans condemned the move as an attempt by President Joe Biden and Schumer to give vulnerable Democrats “political cover,” and Speaker Mike Johnson said it would be “dead on arrival” in the House of Representatives.
“Schumer is trying to provide cover for his vulnerable members by organizing a vote on a bill that has already failed once in the Senate,” Johnson said in a statement. “If it reached the House, the bill would be dead on arrival.”
Male migrants from Jordan, China, Egypt and Colombia surrender to a Border Patrol agent after crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in Jacumba Hot Springs, California
The Border Act would reform U.S. asylum laws, hire thousands of border agents and try to curb fentanyl smuggling, among other things, Schumer’s office said.
The original legislation included $22.5 billion for border issues: $2.3 billion for refugee assistance within the U.S. and $20.2 billion for improvements to U.S. border security.
The legislation is not expected to pass the Senate. With Democrats expecting some defections in addition to continued opposition from the Republican Party, it will almost certainly not have the necessary support for passage.
“I’ll be honest: I don’t expect all Democrats to support this legislation. Many of our colleagues do not support some of the provisions in this legislation, and I do not expect all Republicans to agree to every provision. But that is often the way bipartisan legislation must take shape when it comes to an issue as complex and politically charged as our nation’s immigration laws,” Schumer wrote.
The original legislation was negotiated after Senate Republicans said they would not vote for additional foreign aid — including to Israel and Ukraine — without provisions to fortify the southern border.
After months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill with border provisions and foreign aid.
But Senate Republicans rejected it at the insistence of former President Donald Trump.
Trump has discovered that the border is a politically powerful issue for his campaign and one he is using to unite his base.
The bill Schumer put forward will give Democrats a chance to say they voted to improve border security.
Republicans accused Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Joe Biden of protecting vulnerable Democrats with the vote
Democrats criticized Republicans for rejecting the bipartisan bill.
But Republicans say what Democrats are proposing isn’t strong enough
Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, who helped negotiate the original bill before ultimately rejecting the final package, said this version was not “serious.”
“What they’re talking about next week, it’s not serious,” Lankford told Politico last week, predicting Schumer could lose about a dozen Democratic votes. “No one is really trying to solve it right now. And that is my frustration.’