The striking turn of events comes as Donald Trump tells the GOP to sink the bill, arguing that it could take the political heat off Democrats ahead of an expected rematch with Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON — In a striking turn of events, Senate Republicans threatened Monday to block a major bipartisan package of border security measures and asylum restrictions, just one day after their chief negotiator signed off on it.
GOP senators left a special closed-door meeting in the evening predicting that their party would not provide enough votes to move forward with the package Wednesday, saying they agreed they need more time to discuss changes to the bill in the form of amendments.
“I would anticipate Wednesday the cloture vote does not pass,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., the lead GOP negotiator in the border talks, told reporters after the meeting. “People are saying, 'Hey, I need a lot more time to be able to go through this.'”
The Republican uneasiness could be devastating to the package, which House Republican leaders have already said is "dead on arrival" in the lower chamber. Proponents hoped that strong bipartisan support in the Senate could force the House's hand.
Donald Trump is demanding that Republicans sink the agreement, which they struck with Democrats and is now backed by President Joe Biden, as Trump, the likely 2024 Republican presidential nominee, seeks to wield immigration as a political weapon in the fall election. Trump tore into the bill on social media, calling it “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.”
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that Republicans worry there “hasn’t been adequate time” to process the bill yet. “I think it’s fair to say everybody thinks that voting Wednesday is voting too soon,” he said.
The 370-page bill, finalized and released Sunday, was crafted with the input of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who advocated for it on the Senate floor Monday, warning of crises at the southern border and internationally. In addition to new border provisions, the package includes aid money for Ukraine and Israel. “It’s now time for Congress to take action on supplemental national security legislation that finally meets those challenges head-on,” he said.
But just hours later, when Senate Republicans met behind closed doors and opposition continued to grow, McConnell — one of the staunchest GOP proponents of Ukraine aid in Congress — gave his members the green light to oppose Wednesday's procedural vote. McConnell told Republicans that if they have reasons to vote against the bill, they could, given that talks on amendments and how to proceed are ongoing, said a source familiar with the meeting.
Democrats were stunned to see Republicans abandon the pact.
“Just gobsmacked. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sen. Brian Schatz, of Hawaii, a member of Democratic leadership, said on X. “They literally demanded specific policy, got it, and then killed
it.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, the chief Democratic negotiator, called the Republicans’ skittishness about their own agreement “embarrassing.”
“You told us you wanted a bipartisan border fix. You appointed the Republican negotiator. WE GOT A DEAL,” he wrote on X. “Stop the drama — do you want to fix the border or do you want to keep the border chaotic to help Trump? Just decide pls.”
The vote currently scheduled for Wednesday is a procedural vote to move toward debating the legislation. That vote, called a cloture motion, needs 60 votes to pass. If it fails, the bill would be indefinitely on ice until 60 senators agreed to restart floor consideration.
Senate Republicans left Monday’s meeting calling the discussion “robust"; at one point, reporters could hear Sen Ron Johnson, R-Wis., speaking loudly in the room, to which Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, could be heard saying, “Time out!” Sen Mike Lee, R-Utah, an outspoken opponent of the bill, left the meeting saying the room was “not super bullish" on the immigration package.
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WASHINGTON — In a striking turn of events, Senate Republicans threatened Monday to block a major bipartisan package of border security measures and asylum restrictions, just one day after their chief negotiator signed off on it.
GOP senators left a special closed-door meeting in the evening predicting that their party would not provide enough votes to move forward with the package Wednesday, saying they agreed they need more time to discuss changes to the bill in the form of amendments.
“I would anticipate Wednesday the cloture vote does not pass,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., the lead GOP negotiator in the border talks, told reporters after the meeting. “People are saying, 'Hey, I need a lot more time to be able to go through this.'”
The Republican uneasiness could be devastating to the package, which House Republican leaders have already said is "dead on arrival" in the lower chamber. Proponents hoped that strong bipartisan support in the Senate could force the House's hand.
Donald Trump is demanding that Republicans sink the agreement, which they struck with Democrats and is now backed by President Joe Biden, as Trump, the likely 2024 Republican presidential nominee, seeks to wield immigration as a political weapon in the fall election. Trump tore into the bill on social media, calling it “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.”
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that Republicans worry there “hasn’t been adequate time” to process the bill yet. “I think it’s fair to say everybody thinks that voting Wednesday is voting too soon,” he said.
The 370-page bill, finalized and released Sunday, was crafted with the input of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who advocated for it on the Senate floor Monday, warning of crises at the southern border and internationally. In addition to new border provisions, the package includes aid money for Ukraine and Israel. “It’s now time for Congress to take action on supplemental national security legislation that finally meets those challenges head-on,” he said.
But just hours later, when Senate Republicans met behind closed doors and opposition continued to grow, McConnell — one of the staunchest GOP proponents of Ukraine aid in Congress — gave his members the green light to oppose Wednesday's procedural vote. McConnell told Republicans that if they have reasons to vote against the bill, they could, given that talks on amendments and how to proceed are ongoing, said a source familiar with the meeting.
Democrats were stunned to see Republicans abandon the pact.
“Just gobsmacked. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sen. Brian Schatz, of Hawaii, a member of Democratic leadership, said on X. “They literally demanded specific policy, got it, and then killed
it.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, the chief Democratic negotiator, called the Republicans’ skittishness about their own agreement “embarrassing.”
“You told us you wanted a bipartisan border fix. You appointed the Republican negotiator. WE GOT A DEAL,” he wrote on X. “Stop the drama — do you want to fix the border or do you want to keep the border chaotic to help Trump? Just decide pls.”
The vote currently scheduled for Wednesday is a procedural vote to move toward debating the legislation. That vote, called a cloture motion, needs 60 votes to pass. If it fails, the bill would be indefinitely on ice until 60 senators agreed to restart floor consideration.
Senate Republicans left Monday’s meeting calling the discussion “robust"; at one point, reporters could hear Sen Ron Johnson, R-Wis., speaking loudly in the room, to which Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, could be heard saying, “Time out!” Sen Mike Lee, R-Utah, an outspoken opponent of the bill, left the meeting saying the room was “not super bullish" on the immigration package.
Senate Republicans threaten to block border security bill they negotiated
The striking turn of events comes as Donald Trump tells the GOP to sink the bill, arguing that it could take the political heat off Democrats ahead of an expected rematch with Joe Biden.
www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org
this country was set up by slavers racists and terrorists what you gonna do to fight their descendants..???
