Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell waved a rhetorical white flag Tuesday, admitting that the bipartisan supplemental spending package was doomed less than 48 hours after its text was revealed.
“The [House] spokesman [Mike Johnson] that it will not become law,” the 81-year-old Kentuckian bluntly admitted to reporters.
“It seems to me and most of our members that we have no real chance of making a law here,” McConnell added.
The Republican leader bowed to political reality after two days of protests among conservatives over the $118 billion measure; McConnell lieutenants, Steve Daines of Montana and John Barrasso of Wyoming, were among those expressing opposition from the Senate, and House Republican leadership bluntly stated Monday that taking up amending the legislation would be a “waste of time.” ”.
The proposal, which is still scheduled for a procedural vote in the Senate on Wednesday, set aside $20 billion for border security and included $650 million for border wall construction and a Title 42-style authority to close crossings when encounters with immigrants exceeded 5,000 percent. daily average over a period of one week.
Mitch McConnell suggested the border deal is already dead in the Senate. fake images
That number wasn’t low enough for Republican border hawks like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who suggested Tuesday that McConnell should be removed as majority leader over the ordeal.
“I followed my briefing instructions,” a visibly agitated McConnell told reporters. “Actually, it was my side that wanted to address the border. We started it.
“Obviously, with a Democratic president and Senate, our negotiators had to deal with them.”
McConnell added that Republican negotiator James Lankford of Oklahoma had done a “remarkable job” in his meetings with Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.).
“Eliminating the Border Council, which supported President Trump, certainly underscores that this was a quality product,” the minority leader said, referring to the Border Patrol union’s endorsement. “Things have changed in the last four months.”
James Lankford has accused some of the deal’s detectors of deliberately misleading about its provisions. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) insisted that “this is not the last time Republicans have heard from us” on the issue.
“We are going to continue like this. We will have a vote tomorrow,” said the Democratic leader. “We will advance further. Stay tuned.”
The moribund bill also included $60 billion in military assistance for Ukraine, $14 billion in military aid for Israel and $10 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza, the West Bank and other war-torn regions, and McConnell expressed optimism Thursday that Congress could pass those measures. separately.
Chris Murphy was visibly distressed by Republicans who spoke out against the deal. AP
“There are other parts of this supplement that are also extremely important,” the Republican leader said. “Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan…, in my opinion, we still need to address the rest, because it is important. It’s not that the border is not important, but we can’t get a result. So I think that’s where we need to go, and it’s up to Senator Schumer to decide how to rework this, if in fact we don’t move forward.”
At the White House, a visibly frustrated President Biden, who enjoyed a Democratic House and Senate for the first two years of his term, accused former President Donald Trump of convincing Republicans on Capitol Hill to oppose the deal, saying “Donald Trump told them that it is necessary to preserve chaos at the border. “I think that’s very unfortunate for this entire country.”
The US Border Patrol has seen a record level of encounters on the US-Mexico border. AP
“If the bill fails, I want to make something absolutely clear,” the 81-year-old added. “The American people will know why it failed. “I will take this issue to the country and the voters will know.”
“What has happened here over the last four months is outrageous,” Murphy fumed to reporters. “There used to be a difference between the Senate Republican caucus and the House Republican caucus.”
“There is no difference anymore. They are just as dysfunctional. “They are equally linked to President Trump.”
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