House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) criticized the Senate’s bipartisan $118 billion border security and foreign aid package after the deal was released Sunday night, saying the proposal “doesn’t meet our expectations.” It is “even worse than what it was” and “will be invalidated.” ‘On arrival’ in the lower room.
The bill allocates $20 billion for border security and gives the federal government temporary authority to expel immigrants if the average number of daily border crossings exceeds a threshold. Elements of border security also include an end to “catch-and-release,” tightened refugee screening standards, and an attempt to speed up the processing of asylum applications.
The foreign aid portion of the deal includes $60 billion for Ukraine, $14.1 billion for Israel, and aid to Indo-Pacific allies. Prime Minister Johnson said he would put $17.6 billion in emergency funding for Israel in a standalone bill for a vote in the full House of Commons next week.
“I’ve seen enough,” Johnson wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “This bill is even worse than we expected and far from ending the border disaster the president has wrought. As the Democratic chief negotiator declared, under this bill, “the border will never be closed.” It won’t close.”
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) criticized the Senate’s bipartisan $118 billion border security and foreign aid package after the deal was released. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
“If this bill reaches the House, it will be dead on arrival,” the Speaker declared.
Johnson’s statement echoes comments he made before the House of Lords released the agreement on Sunday night.
“If the rumors about the contents of the draft were true, the draft would have died on arrival in the House anyway,” he wrote to House Republicans last month.
Shortly before Johnson’s statement, House Minority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) said the Senate bill would not be voted on in the House. Scalise oversees the House schedule.
“To be clear, the Senate border bill will not be voted on in the House,” Scalise wrote to X. “What those pushing this ‘deal’ are not saying is this: The deal admits 5,000 illegal immigrants per day, and automatic work authorization for asylum seekers means more illegal immigrants. It will cause you to attract.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said the Senate’s border security bill would die “on arrival” in the House. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said a Senate vote on the package could come as early as Wednesday.
Johnson’s statement came after several Senate negotiators worked for months on a deal to address border security. Republicans had demanded that any aid to Ukraine be combined with legislation to help with the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border.
In recent weeks, as negotiators neared a deal, Republicans have grown skeptical of bipartisan talks, arguing that President Biden already has the resources to deal with the border situation and doesn’t need new legislation. . Some Republicans have signaled they don’t want to give Biden a political victory in an election year by supporting the border bill.
Former President Trump also tweeted on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Republicans would close the border unless they receive “everything we need to stop this invasion of millions and millions of people.” He urged them not to support the agreement.
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House Minority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) said the Senate bill would not be voted on in the House. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the top Republican negotiator on the border deal, responded to Prime Minister Johnson’s comments about the proposal, saying the bill could be worse than House Republicans expected. He said he was confused.
“I’m a little confused that conditions during construction were worse than expected.” [the] How a border wall, expanded deportation flights, more ICE officers, Border Patrol agents, and more detention beds will speed up the process of deportation and eliminate many long-standing problems and loopholes in refugee law. It’s cleared up and we have emergency officials to stop the chaos at the border right now,” Lankford told reporters.
“So I’m a little confused,” he continued. “We need to work with the Chair’s team on this to find out which parts of the text are ‘worse than expected’ based on the actual text. Hopefully, everyone will have had a chance to read the text.”
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Prior to the document’s release, Lankford told Fox News that the claim that the bill would allow 5,000 illegal crossings per day is “the most misunderstood part of this proposal.”
On Jan. 28, he appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and said, “It’s just ridiculous to agree to 5,000 people a day. This bill is focused on getting zero illegal crossings a day. “There is,” he said.
