Senators seeking a deal with the White House on a border security bill returned to in-person talks Tuesday and resumed Wednesday afternoon, but a deal is unlikely to be reached within the next week.
Last month, the Senate canceled part of its holiday recess at the order of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.). – Continue negotiations. But officials were unable to reach an agreement and left town to meet several times virtually, according to people familiar with the talks.
The Senate's chief negotiators James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be in session a week before the Senate opens. Secretary of State Alejandro Mayorkas and other senior Biden officials have begun negotiations. I'm planning to go on holiday vacation.
“We're not going backwards, we're going to keep moving forward,” Murphy told reporters Friday. “We don't have a final deal yet, and I think the nature of this deal is going to be very complex, so we won't know if there will be a vote until we bring it back to caucus.”
Encounters of migrants at southern border hit 302,000 in December, officials say
“While significant progress has been made, there is still no final agreement, much less legal text,” Lankford said in a statement last month.
“It's clear that there are several outstanding issues that will take weeks, not hours, to resolve,” he added.
Meanwhile, 60 House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), ended their vacation early Wednesday with a visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, on the southern border.
House Republicans have made clear that even if a deal passes in the Senate, it won't receive support from the Republican-controlled House unless it includes elements of HR2. One of the resolution's policies is to impose stricter standards for asylum eligibility.
The Senate will return to session on Monday, but a deal is unlikely to be reached when it returns. In addition, 15 Republican senators sent a letter to Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (Wyo.) asking him to convene a meeting next week to discuss the ongoing negotiations, which remain secretive and vague. It is claimed that it has become.
Chip Roy skips Republican border visit: Republicans need to 'put up or shut up'
Migrants wait to enter El Paso under the guard of the Texas National Guard on May 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Andres Layton, File)
“Our borders will not be secured through hasty, secret negotiations with Democrats who want open borders and created the current crisis. Americans deserve an open and transparent process.” the senators wrote last month.
In their pre-holiday supplemental national security appeal, Republicans conditioned increased aid to Ukraine on implementing stricter border security measures. But demands for the partnership, which includes aid to Israel and Taiwan along with Ukraine, came shortly after President Biden urged its passage in October.
Murphy said he disagrees with this approach.
Democratic senators warn of 'crisis' at southern border, urge negotiators to forge deal
President Biden speaks with Border Patrol agents while walking along the U.S.-Mexico border fence in El Paso, Texas, on January 8, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
“We were concerned from the beginning that tying migrants to Ukraine was a recipe for failure,” he told reporters last week.
The White House first requested total additional aid in October, totaling about $106 billion, including $14 billion to aid Israel. Mr. Biden urged Congress to take swift action on the policy, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a final plea in December in a closed session of both chambers of Congress.
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The White House transferred more than $100 billion to ukraine Biden announced last week that his administration would send $250 million in additional military aid to Eastern European countries.
FOX News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
