Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a bipartisan border security bill for the second time this year, rejecting a bill that was initially pushed to halt a surge in migrants crossing the border with Mexico but died after a right-wing backlash cheered on by his predecessor, President Donald J.
The vote became a political trap set for Republicans by Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and majority leader. He said he wanted to highlight the bill’s second half in an election year to highlight contrasts with Republicans on immigration, an issue that polls show is a major potential liability issue for President Biden and his party. The bill was planned in hopes of taking advantage of a second rejection.
The bill failed in the Senate, far short of the 60 votes needed to pass, with 50 votes in favor and 43 votes against. Four Democrats who believe the border enforcement measures are too extreme voted to block passage of the bill, along with nearly all Republicans who decry the measures as too lenient.
The bill would completely close the border if the number of migrants reaches unmanageable levels, effectively mandating that the border be closed if the average number of migrants encountered by immigration officers exceeds 5,000 in a week or 8,500 on any given day, as has happened in recent months. The bill would allow the president to do so unilaterally if the average reaches 4,000. And it would vastly expand detention and deportations by funding thousands of new Border Patrol agents and agents and investing in new technology to catch drug smugglers.
“Just like three months ago, Senate Republicans rejected the strongest, most comprehensive bipartisan border security bill Congress has seen in a generation,” Schumer said. “It’s a sad day for the Senate, and a sad day for America.”
Democrats have been circulating a memo in recent weeks highlighting their plan to capitalize on Republican opposition to the bill and neutralize Republican attacks on the Biden administration over border controls. Under the Biden administration, the number of migrants caught crossing the U.S. southern border is at a record high.
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, harshly criticized the Biden administration’s border policies and urged Biden to use executive orders to take action.
He called the bill pushed by Schumer a “distraction.”
“The solution is for the president to use his authority and use the tools at his disposal to begin cleaning up this mess,” McConnell said.
Republicans initially pushed for border security legislation as a prerequisite for passing aid to help Ukraine fight Russian aggression. Mr. McConnell has appointed Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma to be the chief Republican negotiator, and he is working with Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent from Arizona, and Biden. The agreement was reached in cooperation with administration officials.
After months of negotiations, the group reached an unlikely compromise in February.
The union representing front-line Border Patrol agents supported the bill.
But Speaker Mike Johnson argued that the bill fell far short of the hardline conservative bills the House passed along party lines, declaring it “dead on arrival.” The bill faced opposition from Democrats, including the White House, and officials said it would “cut off nearly all access to humanitarian protection in a manner inconsistent with our nation’s values ​​and international obligations.”
Trump quickly joined the fray, calling for the repeal of the bipartisan border bill and taking full responsibility for it.
“As the leader of my party, there is zero chance that I would support this horrible open border betrayal of the United States,” Trump told supporters at a Las Vegas rally in January. “I will fight to the end. Many of the senators, with all due respect, are trying to say it’s my fault. All right, I say. Blame it on me. Please.”
Johnson again on Wednesday called the bill a “bad bill” and pushed for the Senate to pass a more restrictive Republican bill that would restore some Trump-era immigration policies.
“This is just a false messaging exercise,” Johnson, R-Louisiana, said of Schumer’s move.
Lankford initially defended the bipartisan bill he negotiated, but on Thursday he voted against it. He accused Schumer of playing politics with the bill.
“Today I’m going to vote against a bill that I think should be passed, but there’s no effort being made to actually pass it,” Lankford said.
The only Republican to vote Thursday to advance the bill was Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Four Democrats — Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, LaFonza Butler of California, Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Alex Padilla of California — and two independents, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sinema, voted against moving the bill forward.
Sinema criticized both parties, saying they were both trying to gain political advantage rather than seriously addressing the issue.
“The Senate and our country face big challenges, and the Senate clearly has no interest in solving those challenges,” Sinema lamented.
But most Democrats have been touting provisions of the bipartisan bill all week. On Wednesday, several senators held a press conference to highlight measures to combat fentanyl trafficking, including increasing funding for the Drug Enforcement Administration to dismantle drug cartels and funding new technology to quickly detect fentanyl at checkpoints and lead to arrests.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, said she met with Border Patrol agents and was told they needed additional agents and reinforcements, which were supposed to be funded by the bill.
“They’re overwhelmed and understaffed,” she said of the agents. “They need help.”
