Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell waved the rhetorical white flag on Tuesday, admitting a bipartisan supplemental spending package was doomed less than 48 hours after its text was revealed.
“It was clearly explained to us by [House] speaker [Mike Johnson] that it would never become law,” the 81-year-old Kentuckian bluntly admitted to reporters.
“It looks to me and most of our members as if we have no real opportunity here to legislate,” McConnell added.
The Republican leader bowed to political reality after two days of protests among conservatives over the $118 billion measure — with McConnell’s lieutenants Steve Daines of Montana and John Barrasso of Wyoming among those expressing opposition on the Senate side and House GOP leadership outspoken on Monday. that taking up the law would be a “waste of time.”
The proposal, which is still set for a Senate procedural vote on Wednesday, allocates $20 billion for border security, and includes $650 million for border wall construction and Title 42-style authorities to close crossings when immigration encounters exceed 5,000 per-day average over a period of one week.
Mitch McConnell suggests the border deal is dead in the Senate. Getty Images
That number isn’t low enough for Republican border peddlers like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who suggested Tuesday that McConnell should be removed as majority leader over the difficulty.
“I followed the orders of my conference,” a visibly agitated McConnell told reporters. “Actually, it’s my side that wants to overcome the border. We started it.
“Obviously with a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate, our negotiators had to deal with them.”
McConnell added that GOP negotiator James Lankford of Oklahoma had done a “tremendous job” in his meetings with Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.)
“To elect the Border Council, which supports President Trump, certainly emphasizes that it’s a quality product,” the minority leader said, referring to the endorsement of the Border Patrol union. “Things have changed over the past four months.”
James Lankford has accused some observers of the agreement 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 Republicans hear from us” on the issue.
“We will continue it. We will hold a vote tomorrow,” said the Democratic leader. “We will move further forward. Stay tuned.”
The moribund bill also includes $60 billion in military aid for Ukraine, $14 billion in military aid for Israel and $10 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza, the West Bank and other war-torn areas, and McConnell expressed confidence on Thursday that Congress could approve the move. separately.
Chris Murphy is clearly frustrated with Republicans who oppose the deal. AP
“There are other parts of this addition that are very important as well,” the Republican leader said. “Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan — we still, in my view, have to deal with the rest, because they are important. It’s not that boundaries don’t matter, it’s that we can’t get results. So, that’s where I think we should go, and it’s up to Senator Schumer how to decide how to repackage this, if in fact we don’t go ahead with it.”
At the White House, a visibly disappointed President Biden – who enjoyed a Democratic House and Senate for the first two years of his term – accused former President Donald Trump of persuading Capitol Hill Republicans to oppose the deal, saying “Donald Trump told them they have to keep the chaos going at the border. I think that’s very unfortunate for the whole country.”
The US Border Patrol has recorded record levels of encounters at the US-Mexico border. AP
“If the bill fails, I want to be really clear about something,” the 81-year-old added. “The American people will know why it failed. I will take this issue to the nation and the voters will know.”
“What’s 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 equally dysfunctional. They are just as attached to President Trump.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
