Source:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4412413-border-bill-senate-speaker-johnson-opposition/Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) signals that a potential border bill would likely be a no-go for House Republicans are being disregarded among many in the Senate GOP.
Johnson reportedly told his members on a conference call over the weekend that the border cannot be secured without a Republican in the White House, and Saturday circulated a Fox News display laying out what it believed to be in the bill and said he would “absolutely not” accept that package.
The comments mark his clearest indication yet that an eventual border bill — which has not been finalized — will be dead-on-arrival in the House. That would likely doom Congress’s ability to pass another tranche of Ukraine aid.
Whether any bipartisan Senate bill could pass muster with House Republicans has been a key question from the beginning, and Johnson’s comments could create a new hurdle.
House Republicans have loudly argued for H.R. 2, the border package that passed the lower chamber with no Democratic votes, with a number of members saying that they would only vote for the partisan proposal.
Republicans also note that Johnson embraced the idea of tying future Ukraine aid to a border deal.
Some members also view these negotiations as the last chance to secure any larger-scale border agreement for the foreseeable future, with a Democratic White House heavily seeking a deal and Republicans clamoring for border policy changes.
