WASHINGTON — A bipartisan Senate deal to tie border enforcement measures to aid to Ukraine may have collapsed Thursday as Senate Republicans grew increasingly wary of an election-year compromise that Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said is “pointless.” is.
Senate negotiators have been seeking for weeks to reach a carefully negotiated compromise on border and immigration policies aimed at reducing the number of migrants coming to the U.S. border with Mexico. But with negotiations dragging on for weeks, election-year politics and Trump’s demands are putting pressure on the situation.
At stake is a plan that both President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have worked for months to broker in hopes of persuading Congress to approve war aid to Ukraine. The US has run out of money to supply Ukraine, potentially leaving the country stranded without robust stockpiles of ammunition and missiles to fend off the Russian invasion.
Trump stepped up his criticism of the potential compromise on Thursday, writing in two lengthy posts on his social media platform that it would be “pointless” in terms of border security and “another gift to the radical left Democrats” as Biden runs for re-election .
The former president said it is better if the Senate does not make a deal, even if it means the country will be “closed” for a while. He did not propose alternative policy options.
At a closed-door Republican meeting Wednesday, McConnell acknowledged the reality of Trump’s opposition, that he is the party’s likely presidential nominee and discussed other options, including a possible separation of Ukraine and the border, according to two people familiar who spoke anonymously to discuss the matter. private meeting. Punchbowl News first reported the comments.
McConnell’s comments raised new doubts in the Senate about his level of commitment to the border deal, though proponents of progress argued the leader’s comments were misinterpreted.
“We’re still working on it,” McConnell told reporters Thursday morning.
He also assured the conference Thursday at a Republican lunch that he still personally supports linking the border with Ukraine, said Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican.
Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the GOP’s chief negotiator, said the group is still working on the package. He said McConnell was advocating for the proposal while simply recognizing the political reality that the presidential primary season is in full swing.
“I think that’s the shift that’s happened that he just acknowledges,” Lankford said. “That’s just the reality.”
Lankford has been working with a small bipartisan group and White House officials to try to broker the border deal. But the release of the legislation was held up by negotiating over the price of the new policy and ongoing disagreements over limiting the president’s ability to allow people into the country under special circumstances, such as those fleeing war and unrest .
“We’re really focused on making sure we get the bill out and we get it through the Senate,” said Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent who has played a central role in the talks.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that the Biden administration has been working with negotiators “in good faith,” believes progress has been made and hopes it will continue.
“We are at a critical moment and we have to drive fast to get this done,” said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate. I’m moving to plan B.”
But congressional leaders have found no other way to boost war funding for Ukraine because of the case’s bleak political prospects. A large number of Republicans in the House of Representatives are unwilling to send more money to the fight, even though party stalwarts like McConnell have tried to convince them that preventing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advance in Europe is directly in their interest of America.
“We know that if Putin gains the upper hand in Ukraine, the consequences for Western democracy and for the American people will be severe and will haunt us for years to come,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “Democrats are also resolute in reaching an agreement on securing the southern border.”
Trump has played a prominent role in the talks, first undermining U.S. support for Ukraine and now potentially undermining a political compromise on the border that would give his likely opponent, Biden, new policies intended to stem historic numbers of migrants find a way into the country, to contain it. With Republicans continually raising the issue during their campaign, the border will likely remain front and center in this year’s election.
While many in Congress are eagerly awaiting the bill, Trump has already said on social media that there should be no bipartisan border deal “unless we get EVERYTHING it takes to stop the INVASION of Millions of People.” & Millions of people.”
The lead Democratic negotiator, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, said he is still hopeful that Republicans will decide to accept the compromise — even though Democrats did not want to tie Ukraine aid and border security in the first place.
“Many Republicans have become accustomed to this being just a political issue, not an actual policy issue,” Murphy said. “And it’s hard for them to get over that. But there is a large group of Republicans in the Senate who want to solve the problem.”
In an effort to fend off Trump’s objections, Republican senators have argued that the policies under discussion would have no immediate effect on problems at the border and would even give Trump more border enforcement powers if he is re-elected.
“The issue will still be a hot topic and I think it would be one of the defining issues in the campaign,” said Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas. “So we have to do our job here.”
But this week, a vocal contingent of Republicans have raised objections, including heated arguments at a closed-door Republican lunch on Tuesday, several senators said at the meeting. They have argued that presidents already have enough authority to implement tough border measures and that Trump should have his say.
“If we expect him to be able to secure the border, he should be able to see this bill, and he should be able to commit and say, is this going to help me secure the border or not,” said Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, at a Wednesday news conference. “What we know is he doesn’t need it.”
Sen. J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican and a Trump ally, said he spoke to the former president about the deal last week and expressed concern that it would be “too weak.”
“If it fails, which it will, it gives the president the opportunity to blame ‘MAGA Republicans’ for the failure of a border security package, when in reality what failed was a very weak border security package that actually did nothing.” Vans said.
But some Republicans worried that walking away from an opportunity to pass border policies could backfire.
“If we were given the opportunity, and we decided not to do it for political reasons, I think we could be in serious trouble,” Rounds said. “Many of our candidates could be in serious trouble at home.”
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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Seung Min Kim contributed.