It's already mid-January. And there is no agreement on potential legislation to secure the border.
This also means there is no agreement on an international aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
It's not an indictment.
But pragmatists on Capitol Hill know this will take time, even though negotiators began taking shape on a border deal in early December and worked through the holidays. Ta.
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Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the top Republican negotiator in the talks, suggested on “Fox News Sunday” last weekend that the goal is to have the text of the bill ready by the end of this week.
But that never happened. Lankford says nothing bad has changed.
“I think we just didn’t progress as quickly as we hoped,” Lankford said. “I was thinking, 'I think we're getting close.' But in our meetings all [Sunday] night and [Monday] we won't be able to get there. ”
Sources close to the negotiations told Fox that negotiators did not lose momentum or hit any unexpected holes.
“There are a lot of little things that need to be resolved,” the official said, pointing to the complexity of the negotiations.
However, I am concerned about the speed. Foxx reportedly said senators are aware of the need to ship aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. soon. There are also concerns that a dispute over government funding later this month could undermine everything the two countries are trying to do on the border issue.
“That's the precedent,” said a source involved in government funding. “That's a tight deadline.”
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said Lankford was “actually surprised by some of the progress he's made” on the border deal. Marshall said lawmakers “have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure our border. If we have that opportunity, if we can get a good deal at the table and get 80% or 90% of what we want.” said. The GOP should make a deal.
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“The amount of progress that negotiators have made is significant and encouraging,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.).
But few were paying close attention to border negotiations as the Capitol turned into a Hunter Biden circus on Wednesday. Mr. Lankford briefed his fellow Republican senators and some House members about his own negotiations. And the week ended without the bill's text being introduced as the two sides bickered over parole for people who entered the U.S. illegally.
The lack of bill language could actually help negotiations. When something goes to paper at Capitol Hill, its details inevitably leak out. At that point, some lawmakers and interest groups may try to water down the proposal. Therefore, the negotiator chose to keep his cards close to his vest. However, the lack of specificity makes it difficult to judge progress.
“It's hard to evaluate because there's no text,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri. “I haven't written anything.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) echoed his colleagues' sentiments.
“It's not a document, so until they read it, I don't feel safe, and no one can feel safe,” Rubio said.
The same thing bothered Republican Sen. Eric Schmidt.
“This has been very secretive,” Schmidt said. “I suspect we're giving up too much here.”
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But here's the thing.
Negotiators have been working hard since December. They talked many times during the holidays. And now we are entering the third week of January with no deal. Meanwhile, war intensifies in Israel. Ukraine claims it cannot match Russia's firepower. China is keeping a close eye on Taiwan. If China reacts negatively to Lai Ching-de's selection as Taiwan's president, funding for Taiwan could become even more urgent. Don't forget that Republicans have insisted that aid to Ukraine would be conditional on a border security deal. So while negotiations are moving forward, international aid packages have stalled.
This is the type of timeline you actually proposed in December. Some wondered if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York would try to block lawmakers from holding a floor vote on the border package just before Christmas. That never happened. That's largely because the negotiations were real and both sides were making progress. A show vote to score political points would have been counterproductive.
And this is why the real realistic timeline for completing this bill, as far as the Senate is concerned, is probably after February. If they can finish it.
We're not even talking about the Duma.
Many House Republicans don't want to touch the still-unformed bill floating around the Senate. Congressional Republicans have long argued that instead of ceding power to the government, we need to reassert Article I powers given to us by the Constitution and statutes. But as Congress struggles to craft legislative solutions on border security and immigration, some Republicans are now pushing into the White House.
Republicans don't think President Biden can accomplish much. But now he claims to be the one to deal with the border crisis.
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“Joe Biden doesn't want to fix the problem. He could fix it with his own executive order,” said Rep. Troy Neals, R-Texas.
But that doesn't square with long-standing arguments from congressional Republicans who have argued that the Clinton-Obama-Biden administration is out of control and that many of its agendas need to be reined in.
“How did President Trump secure the southern border?” Nehls asked. “He did that through 21 executive orders and 25 presidential memorandums.”
This is why legislative fixes to border security remain so difficult. And that may continue for at least a few more weeks. It is unlikely that such a big issue could come together so quickly on immigration and border security, which has been a radioactive issue for decades. And even if an agreement were reached, it would take several more weeks to move forward quickly, as Congress and members of Congress, who are wary of touching on immigration issues, are divided.
But here's the problem.
Aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan is conditional on border agreements. It's unclear whether lawmakers might remove the aid package from border security if the situation becomes unstable in any of those areas. The situation is most urgent in Ukraine. And there are political risks for some Republicans if the situation in Ukraine moves south. There are also political risks if Republicans decide to separate international aid from border security. Hardliners who demand border security first will howl.
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So this will take some time. still.
I wish I could achieve even just a little bit of that.
