House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted that former President Donald Trump does not want to go up against congressional Republican opposition to the Senate border deal.
“Of course not. He didn’t call the shots. I called the shots for the House,” Johnson (R-La.) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday when asked. “That’s our responsibility. And I have [saying] this is much longer than President Trump.”
Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to derail the deal to deny President Biden a key legislative victory and boost Trump’s 2024 general election prospects.
Trump has repeatedly rebuked the deal publicly and privately in talks with GOP lawmakers, describing it at one point as “a terrible open-borders betrayal of America.”
Johnson endorsed Trump last year, as did all top Republican House leaders.
The text of the border agreement had not been released at the time Johnson sat down for the NBC interview, but was expected later on Sunday.
Mike Johnson is struggling with a very thin and divided House GOP majority. Getty Images
“What we are saying is that you have to stop the flow. The president has executive power now,” Johnson added. “He could literally close the border overnight but he refuses to do it.”
Last October Biden launched a $106 billion supplemental package request featuring funding for war-torn Israel as well as Ukraine and the border, which Republicans had asked to include.
Republicans, who have been internally divided over additional aid to Ukraine, blasted the border security provisions as woefully inadequate, prompting Senate negotiators to hammer out a deal.
While the text has not yet been released, details of it, seen by The Post, reveal it would create the authority to automatically turn away immigrants trying to enter the US when crossings exceed 5,000 in a day.
A group of Democrats have complained about Donald Trump’s meddling in border negotiations. AP
Many prominent Republican critics such as Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have argued that it tolerates too many illegal crossings into the US.
On Saturday Johnson announced that the House would vote on a $17.6 billion standalone package for Israel without spending cuts, as he had previously demanded.
The package, which does not include additional support for Ukraine, has been seen as a way to counter a broader addition featuring border provisions.
“Instead of working in a bipartisan way, House Republicans are playing a political game that does nothing to secure the border, does nothing to help the people of Ukraine, and denies humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians,” The White House responded late Saturday.
“The administration strongly opposes their proposal.”
Mike Johnson and President Biden at the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation’s annual event at the US Capitol last week. AP
Last Wednesday, the House Homeland Security Committee fired two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for alleged neglect of duty and lying to Congress.
The Biden administration has pushed back on the move, dismissing it as a partisan effort. Mayorkas’ team fiercely disputed allegations that he lied to Congress and insisted he followed the law while insisting that none of his predecessors had the border fully locked.
Johnson, who twice helped Trump fight impeachment efforts against him, defended the move.
Senator James Lankford represents the Republicans in negotiations on the border agreement. Getty Images
“What we are suggesting here is that Secretary Mayorkas has openly violated federal law,” he said. “He has also lied to Congress. He has repeatedly misrepresented the facts.”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures. And that’s where we are.”
During fiscal year 2023, which ends on September 30, more than 2.47 million record-breaking migrant encounters were recorded along the Mexican border, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
A further 302,034 illegal border crossings were apprehended in December.
Johnson also elaborated on his criticism of the Biden administration’s retaliation against Iranian proxies following the deaths of three US soldiers in Jordan.
“We should not appease Iran,” he said, claiming that, “we are predicting weakness on the world stage.” “We need to act to destroy the Central Bank of Iran, the assets they hold there.”
“We need to put massive pressure, maximum pressure on their oil exports. There is a lot we can do to Iran to send a message instead of this appeasement strategy.”
Last month, the Pentagon effectively said it was running out of money to send weapons to Ukraine. ZUMAPRESS.com
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan slammed Biden’s critics as “armchairs” and expressed confidence in the measures taken.
“We intend to take additional strikes and additional actions to continue to send a clear message that the United States will respond when our military is attacked,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. “We are confident in the course we will be going forward.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
