by House Republicans threatened Wednesday to defund the entire federal government if President Biden and Democrats do not implement an offensive on the U.S.-Mexico border to choke off the flow of migrants entering the country.
The warning came as Speaker Mike Johnson led a visit of more than 60 House Republicans to Eagle Pass, Texas, to pressure the president and Democrats to agree to tough new immigration policies.
“There will be no more money for this bureaucracy in your government until this border is brought under control,” said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. “Close the border or close the government.”
At a news conference Wednesday, Johnson attacked Biden over a spike in migrant crossings, demanding he take drastic action by deporting people trying to enter the country illegally and reinstating a Trump-era policy of keeping migrants in Mexico until its day. in immigration court.
He said Republicans would not support the administration’s efforts to secure more than $50 billion in security assistance for Ukraine unless Biden agreed to restrictions in a strict border security bill that the House passed last spring. calling it “what is necessary to solve the problem.”
“If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, he better start by defending America’s national security; It starts right here at our southern border,” Johnson said.
Senate Republicans and Democrats are struggling to reach a deal on border policy to speed up sending those funds to kyiv as part of a broader emergency spending bill.
The visit comes two weeks before the first of two government funding deadlines, which Senate negotiators hoped would also help build momentum toward a border deal. Talks have focused on making it harder for immigrants to seek asylum in the United States, deporting or detaining more of those who cross the border and keeping more of them out of the country while they wait for a decision on whether they will be allowed. get in.
Republicans in both the House and Senate have said such changes are necessary to curb what they say is a threat to the country’s national security.
“These are not people fleeing and seeking asylum and fearing for their lives,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday, claiming that “hardened criminals” were taking advantage of lax border control policies to wreak havoc in the United States. .
But as Republican lawmakers flocked to Eagle Pass hoping to embarrass Biden with a scene of chaos and danger, the backdrop was mostly empty and serene. Only a handful of migrants could be seen crossing the narrow stretch of the Rio Grande as Johnson spoke to the media — a trickle compared to the rush that unfolds there on a normal day.
“It may have to do with the fact that the speaker and more than 60 members showed up,” Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, host of the event, told reporters. He suggested that the cartels smuggling immigrants to the border had intentionally slowed down his work to undermine the Republican Party’s dire message.
Still, Democrats are not dismissing the warnings. Biden and Democrats in Congress, recognizing the political liability they face if they do not address the border, have signaled a willingness to make significant changes to existing border security policies, but not enough to satisfy Republicans. And in the House, Republicans are pushing for even tougher measures that Democrats are unlikely to adopt.
“This situation requires significant policy changes and House Republicans will continue to advocate for real solutions that truly secure our border,” Johnson said Tuesday in a publication in social media.
Republicans in both the House and Senate have insisted that sweeping immigration changes must be part of any bill to help Ukraine fight a Russian invasion, and GOP senators last month blocked a bill. $110.5 billion national security spending bill that would replenish Kiev’s war chest. Their demands led Biden administration officials, including Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, to join nearly daily bipartisan talks on Capitol Hill last month to find an elusive compromise on immigration policies, a reflection of the political pressure that Democrats face to impose order. on the border.
Senators resumed those negotiations in person Tuesday afternoon after holding them virtually over the past week with participants spread across the country over the holidays.
Biden administration officials declined Tuesday to discuss details of the talks but said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private, that they were moving in the right direction.
Late last month, Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma and the GOP’s lead representative in the talks, said negotiators had made “significant progress.” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority leader, said in a joint statement with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the majority leader, that they were equally “committed to addressing needs at the southern border and helping to allies and partners.” face serious threats in Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.”
But for decades members of Congress have failed to agree on immigration policy, one of the thorniest and most politically tense issues they have faced. And Johnson has repeatedly signaled that House Republicans will only accept a deal that mirrors his own hardline bill, meaning any bipartisan deal reached in the Senate could still fail in the other chamber.
“Democrats across the country are beginning to recognize the reality: there must be transformative change to secure the border and end the crisis caused by President Biden’s policies,” Johnson wrote. in a post on X last month. He sent a letter Biden condemning Schumer for dissolving the Senate during the year without bringing a House-passed bill restoring Trump-era border policies to a vote in his chamber.
On Wednesday, Schumer and the White House accused Johnson of complicating the task for negotiators by seeking to score political points rather than working to implement meaningful changes.
“It’s great that they have a trip to the border, but the only way to solve this is here, working in a bipartisan way with Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats and House Democrats to get it done, period,” Schumer told reporters. . “I hope the president realizes this if he wants to solve the problem at the border.”
A White House spokesman, Andrew Bates, noted that Johnson had rejected Biden’s request for more money to hire Border Patrol agents and asylum officers who could help reduce the number of illegal crossings.
“Actions speak louder than words,” Bates said in a statement. “House Republicans’ record against border security is defined by attempting to cut Customs and Border Protection staff, opposing President Biden’s record border security funding, and refusing to take up the U.S. request for supplemental funding.” president”.
Johnson is under intense pressure from the right, which has led the charge against the Biden administration’s efforts to arm Ukraine. And Republicans have turned a draconian approach to border security, including an overhaul of the country’s asylum laws and a return to detention policies that forced migrants to wait in Mexico before presenting their case to a judge, a piece central to his campaign message for 2024.
The threat is potentially potent, as Congress faces back-to-back deadlines to fund the federal government on January 19 and February 2. Senate leaders have been eyeing the two deadlines as possible opportunities for lawmakers to vote on a Ukraine. – border deal, should negotiators manage to reach an agreement, even though Republicans and Democrats have not yet agreed on the size of the next spending bill.
But significant gaps remain between the two parties that would make it difficult for negotiators to finalize a deal before Congress returns to Washington next week. Although the two sides have agreed in principle to make it harder for immigrants to seek asylum, increase detentions and expand the president’s ability to quickly deport those who cross the border illegally, they remain at odds over how and when those powers should be used. – and how to turn those authorities into law.
Hamed Al Aziz and Carl Hulse contributed reporting.
