Washington- House Republican leaders said Monday that Senate efforts to revive a border security measure that has already failed is “dead on arrival” in the lower house. But the bill might not make it out of the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a letter to colleagues Sunday that the chamber will take up border legislation this week negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators earlier this year. The bill, which is part of a broader foreign aid program, was quickly rejected by Republicans after former President Donald Trump expressed his opposition.
“Many of our Republican colleagues have abruptly reversed course from their prior support, announcing their new opposition to the bipartisan proposal,” Schumer said in the letter. “In contrast, Democrats’ commitment to action has never wavered. That’s why the Senate is poised to pass the bipartisan Border Act as a standalone measure next week.”
The legislation, which would mark the first comprehensive overhaul of border security policy in decades and give the president sweeping powers to crack down on illegal border crossings, came after months of negotiations. In his Sunday letter, Schumer praised negotiators for achieving “the unthinkable: a bipartisan agreement on a comprehensive package of border security measures.” He called the legislation “harsh, serious and —critical, bipartisan — proposal to secure our border.
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Senate Democrats have emphasized their efforts to improve border security in recent weeks, drawing attention to stalled border legislation in recent news conferences and placing blame on congressional Republicans for the lack of progress on that question. The stance comes as border security has become a key part of the Republican agenda in the run-up to the November election, as Republicans have embroiled the Biden administration and Democrats over management of the southern border.
According to a new CBS News survey According to a survey of voters in some battleground states in the 2024 elections, immigration plays a central role for voters. In Arizona, which was surveyed by CBS News, a majority say President Biden has been “too lenient” on migrants. While Trump’s policies are portrayed as putting the interests of current U.S. citizens ahead of those of recent immigrants, many Arizonians say the same is not true of Mr. Biden’s policies.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the president’s record in a statement Monday expressing support for the Senate border bill, saying Mr. Biden, since his first day in office , called on Congress to “fix our broken immigration system.”
“That’s why earlier this year his administration reached a bipartisan agreement on the toughest and fairest package of reforms in decades,” she said, adding that the White House supports “strongly” the legislation and encouraging all senators to “put partisan politics aside.” and vote to secure the border.”
In the State of the Union earlier this year, Mr. Biden called House Republicans to move forward with the bill by saying “send me the border bill now!” ” And one group of House Democrats Earlier this month, he called on Mr. Biden to take executive action on the border, highlighting Republicans’ torpedoing of the border bill.
The legislation is still expected to fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate. With some expected defections among Democrats, in addition to continued opposition from the Republican Party, it is almost certain that the bill will not have the support needed to pass.
Schumer acknowledged that he expected some Democrats to vote against the legislation, along with some Republicans. But he encouraged “serious Republicans” to return to the negotiating table.
“Ultimately, the American people deserve political leaders who will work toward bipartisan solutions and that is what we are prepared to do in the United States Senate next week,” he said.
While it remains unlikely, should the border bill move out of the Senate, House leaders made clear in a statement Monday that it has no standing in the GOP-controlled lower chamber.
“If it made it to the House, the bill would be dead on arrival,” Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Whip Tom Emmer and GOP Chairwoman Elise Stefanik said in a statement.
“For more than three years now, Democrats in Congress have stood idly by while the Biden administration opens our borders to criminal drug cartels, terrorists and countless millions of illegal immigrants,” the leaders said . “Now Leader Schumer is trying to protect his vulnerable members by passing a bill that already failed once in the Senate because it would effectively codify many of Biden’s disastrous open border policies that created this crisis in the first place.”
Alan He contributed reporting.
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