The Senate on Thursday failed to advance a border bill supported by some Democrats and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, which has received less support than it did in February when it was first considered. Ta.
Senators voted 43-50 not to move forward with the bill after bipartisan negotiations led by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Kyrsten Sinema (Independent, R-Ariz.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.).
Lankford and Sinema both voted against their own bills, reversing their previous votes.
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As Republicans banded together to block the effort, Schumer reintroduced the Democratic-backed border bill. (Getty Images)
Speaking before the vote, Sinema blasted political theater from both parties, criticizing Republicans for turning their backs on the bill and Democrats for choosing to reintroduce it without trying to gain support for it.
“The Senate today proves what many Americans already think about Congress: Senators are here to play politics, not to get results,” Sinema said in a statement.
Lankford also slammed Democrats for resurrecting the bill for political purposes.
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Lankford and Sinema voted against both bills. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“We all know the situation on the border is unacceptable and it demands the attention of Congress,” Schumer told his colleagues in remarks before the vote. “Democrats believe that, Republicans say that, and that’s why we sat down with Republicans three months ago to craft a strong, necessary, bipartisan border security bill.”
Several Republicans held a press conference on Wednesday to criticize the bill, even claiming that certain immigration provisions make it “worse than doing nothing.” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) blasted the vote on the bill as an “election-year political ploy” to protect several vulnerable incumbent Democrats in battleground states.
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Republicans trashed the effort at a press conference. (Getty Images)
Ahead of the vote, House leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Majority Leader Tom Emmer (R-MN), and Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), said the bill would never see the light of day in the House. They said it would be “dead on arrival.”
Instead, House Republican leaders pointed to the HR2 border bill, which has already been sent to the Senate and contains many of the Republican priorities regarding the southern border.
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House Republican leaders said the bill has no chance of passing in the House. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Schumer on Thursday rejected calls to take away HR 2, saying, “If there’s anything that’s politically dramatic, it’s HR 2. It’s not designed to solve problems. It’s designed to make a point.”
The bill initially failed to clear a procedural hurdle on a 49-50 vote in February, falling short of the required 60 votes. Between then and now, the bill has lost support from both Democrats and Republicans.
