WASHINGTON — In a stunning turn of events, Senate Republicans threatened to block a major bipartisan package on border security and asylum restrictions on Monday, just one day after its chief negotiator approved it.
Republican senators walked out of a special closed-door session in the evening, anticipating they would not have enough votes to advance the bill on Wednesday, leaving them to discuss changes to the bill in the form of amendments. said he agreed that more time was needed.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the top Republican negotiator on the border negotiations, told reporters after the meeting that “we do not expect a shutdown vote to pass on Wednesday.” He said, “People are saying, 'We need more time to get through this.'”
Republican anxiety could have a devastating impact on policy, with House Republican leaders already saying that policy is “completely dead on arrival.” Supporters had hoped that strong bipartisan support in the Senate would help pass the House.
As Trump, the likely 2024 Republican presidential nominee, seeks to use immigration as a political weapon in the fall election, Donald Trump has announced that the Republican Party has entered into a deal with the Democratic Party, now under President Joe Biden. is calling for the withdrawal of this agreement, which is supported by President Trump heavily criticized the bill on social media, calling it “a very clever attempt by Republicans to hold the radical left Democrats accountable for what they did to the border in time for the most important election ever.” It is nothing but a trap.''
Senate Minority Leader John Thune told reporters he was concerned Republicans “still don't have enough time” to act on the bill. “I think it's fair to say that everyone thinks Wednesday's vote is too early,” he said.
The 370-page bill, finalized and announced Sunday, was written with input from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who sponsored the bill on the Senate floor Monday. , warned of a crisis at the southern border and internationally. In addition to new border rules, the package also includes aid money for Ukraine and Israel. “Now is the time for Congress to take action on the National Security Supplemental Act, which will finally address these challenges head-on,” he said.
But hours later, as Senate Republicans met behind closed doors and opposition continued to mount, McConnell, one of the most ardent supporters of Republican support for Ukraine in Congress, opposed Wednesday's procedural vote. He gave the go-ahead to a lawmaker to do so. Mr. McConnell told Republicans that they could vote against the bill if they had a reason to do so, given that amendments and discussions about how to proceed were ongoing, according to a person familiar with the meeting. Told.
Democrats were stunned to see Republicans scrap the deal.
“I was just shocked. I've never seen anything like this,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a member of the Democratic leadership. said in X. “They literally asked for a particular policy, got it, and then canceled it.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the Democratic lead negotiator, called Republicans' cavalier attitude toward their agreement “embarrassing.”
“You told us you wanted to fix the border on a bipartisan basis. You appointed Republican negotiators. We got a deal,” he said. I wrote to X. “Stop the drama. Do you want to fix the border or leave it in disarray to help Trump?” Decide. ”
The vote currently scheduled for Wednesday is a procedural vote for consideration of the bill. This vote is called a closing motion and requires 60 votes to pass. If rejected, the bill would be frozen indefinitely until 60 senators agree to resume consideration in the House.
Senate Republicans left Monday's meeting calling it “solid,” and at one point reporters could hear Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) speaking loudly in the room, to which Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) was heard saying: “timeout!” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), an opponent of the bill, left the meeting saying the room was “not very bullish” on immigration policy.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) said: Even though I fully understand this bill and am working through it line by line, I will not vote for closure out of respect for my colleagues. Because I feel that many of our colleagues are not as advanced as we are. ”
Within minutes of Sunday's announcement of the bill, conservative senators and House Republicans began slamming it. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and his leadership team released a joint statement declaring it “dead” (in all caps) in the House.
Mr. Lankford was surprised by the attitude of the Republican opposition.
“Frankly, I was surprised that some people were saying, “It's going to take days or weeks to get this bill through,'' and then within minutes they were tweeting their opposition.” he said in a previous interview. Monday.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) is an outspoken critic of McConnell who unsuccessfully challenged him for the leadership position 15 months ago. I wrote to X: “Senate Republican leadership has pushed through bad legislation time and time again without any questions or input from members. We've said enough today.”
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (R-Ariz.), a co-author of the bill, told reporters Monday that “there's still a lot of misinformation swirling around this bill,” adding that election-year politics are There were concerns that it might be swaying some of the opposition.
“We are raising asylum standards. We are increasing detention beds and allowing single adults to move in and out of detention facilities when they have asylum interviews, and then if they cannot provide evidence at a higher level of review. , they will be deported from the country. Family units — they cannot be detained because: Flores Island — Will be supervised and available for interview within 90 days. If they cannot prove the higher standard by three bars within 90 days, they will be promptly expelled from the country. ”
Regarding whether this experience would deter him from engaging in other negotiations in the future, Lankford said: So for me, I'm not interested in jumping to the next big thing. ”
