During the deliberation of a legislation that aimed to allocate funds for the border as well as provide aid to countries like Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, some Republican senators were overheard engaging in boisterous discussions behind closed doors. Aishah Hasnie, a Fox News Capitol Hill reporter, revealed on the program “America’s Newsroom” that even Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, is now inclined to vote against it due to its highly controversial provisions.
These provisions include the continuation of allowing thousands of illegal migrants to enter the country daily, without any requirement for President Joe Biden to close the border.
Hasnie told Fox News:
“While the past 24 hours have been nothing short of stunning here, we knew that this border deal was dead on arrival in the House, but it’s not likely to make it out of the Senate at all. Republicans are poised to take a procedural vote on this tomorrow, and it’s likely at the author of this big bipartisan deal. The Republican author is likely to vote no on it as well, as well as a Senate majority leader or minority leader.
“Senate Republicans met last night at a closed-door meeting, which got so heated, Dana, at times, that myself and other reporters could actually hear screaming coming from inside the room. When leader Mitch McConnell emerged from the room, he told me that he had a great discussion and that the conference will keep on talking.
“Now, Senator James Lankford, the lead GOP negotiator on this, told me it is clear that the majority of the conference is not ready to vote on this thing, but that there is still interest in adding real amendments and shaping into something, perhaps, that they can stomach. He insists, though, the bill is not dead, but it looks like he may also vote no tomorrow, just for the sake of party unity. Democrats are already lashing out on that lead,
“Democrat negotiator Chris Murphy tweeting this honestly, this is so embarrassing. You told us you wanted a bipartisan border fix. You appointed the Republican negotiator. We got a deal. Stop the drama. Now, there were three senators on the left that had also rejected the bill. But the goal really here, Dana, was to get half of each conference on board. That is not going to happen. Leader Schumer is expected to go on and put this on the floor for a cloture vote tomorrow. Again, that’s expected to fail. As all eyes now shift to the House, where we are watching this impeachment in a few hours.”
Previously, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had proclaimed the legislation as “dead on arrival” in the House due to the provisions that still permitted up to 1.8 million individuals to enter the country illegally. Critics from both sides of the political spectrum have expressed concerns regarding the Biden Administration’s handling of the border. They highlight the unprecedented number of encounters with migrants since 2021 as evidence of mismanagement. In December 2023, there were over 300,000 encounters with migrants at the southern border, establishing a new record for a single month.
Leaked information about the potential border agreement suggests that it could allow a maximum of 8,500 migrants to enter the U.S. at the border within a 24-hour period or an average of 5,000 per day before triggering a border closure. House GOP leaders have firmly asserted that they view the agreement as “dead on arrival” in the Republican-led House. Johnson and conservative members of the House have consistently argued that President Biden already possesses the necessary authority to address many of the border issues through executive orders.
“I applaud my Republican colleagues led by Rep. Ashley Hinson for telling President Biden directly: you have the existing authority to end the border catastrophe. It was the Biden administration’s disastrous policies — including 64 executive actions — that opened the border,” Johnson said in a statement posted on X. “House GOP is united in taking the fight to the President and make him secure the border.”
