JUST IN: Senate Rejects ‘Bipartisan’ Border Bill
On Wednesday, the Senate was unable to approve the proposed supplemental spending bill.
The bill, which sought to provide assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, also included some measures for border security and immigration reform.
Despite its introduction on Sunday, the package faced significant resistance from conservative Republicans across both legislative bodies, leading to its failure to pass. The measure failed with a tally of 49 in favor to 50 against, falling short of the required 60 votes for approval.
WATCH:
Fox News reported:
The package had been negotiated for months by Sens. Lankford, Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Krysten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Biden administration officials — and it was unveiled on Sunday evening. The $118 billion package included $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, aid to Taiwan and humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and $20 billion in measures to tackle the historic and ongoing crisis at the southern border. It came in response to a White House supplemental funding request submitted to Congress late last year.
At the core of the border package was an “emergency border authority” to mandate Title 42-style expulsions of migrants when migration levels exceed 5,000 a day over a seven-day rolling average. It also would narrow asylum eligibility while expediting the process from years to months, provide immediate work permits for asylum seekers and fund a massive increase in staffing at the border and more immigration judges. It also includes increased numbers of green cards, extra funding for NGOs and cities receiving migrants, $650 million for border wall funding and $450 million for countries to take back and re-settle illegal immigrants.
But while the administration and negotiators talked the bill up as a tough but fair way to tackle the border crisis, Republicans in the House immediately declared it a non-starter and conservative opposition in the Senate quickly stacked up. More than 20 Republican lawmakers in the upper chamber argued this week the provisions would not sufficiently reduce the historic number of illegal migrant crossings, and warned it would normalize record-high levels of illegal immigration.
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Senate’s Republican Minority Leader, recommended late Monday that his colleagues vote against the tepid border bill co-signed by Democrats, throwing negotiations over domestic security and funding for Ukraine and Israel into disarray.
McConnell, who previously indicated he agreed with tying enhanced border security to international funding, ultimately acquiesced, telling colleagues that if they didn’t like the direction the bill was headed they were free to vote against it. He did not forcefully defend or oppose the bill, according to two attendees, but saw the writing on the wall.
Former President Donald Trump came out forcefully against the deal on Monday. “The ridiculous ‘Border’ Bill is nothing more than a highly sophisticated trap for Republicans to assume the blame on what the Radical Left Democrats have done to our Border, just in time for our most important EVER Election. Don’t fall for it!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“We need a separate Border and Immigration Bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape, or form! The Democrats broke Immigration and the Border. They should fix it,” Trump finished.
“We supported a negotiation to bring commonsense border security to this country,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) said on Tuesday. “We did not agree to a border fig leaf to send another $61 billion to Ukraine.”
Last week, Oklahoma Republicans had openly condemned Senator James Lankford (R-OK) for his involvement in the bipartisan border deal, marking a rift within the party over immigration policies. Sen. Lankford had been a key figure in negotiating a Senate agreement aimed at addressing the surge in illegal crossings at the US-Mexico Border.
