Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), one of the lead Democratic negotiators on the hotly contested border security deal, called the bill’s failure due to declining Republican support “shocking.” .
“So the whole thing is still shocking to me. I witnessed the most bizarre and upsetting phenomenon I’ve ever been involved in in politics, and I’m still shaking,” Murphy told The Washington Post. Told. Early 202 Newsletter. “On Sunday afternoon we had 20 to 25 Republicans available. 24 hours later we had four.”
In Wednesday’s vote, the majority of the Senate’s Republican conference, all but four Republicans, voted 49-50 against advancing the motion to advance the border security policy.
The border portion was part of a larger national security supplemental package that included emergency foreign aid to support the Ukrainian and Israeli war efforts and strengthen security around the Indo-Pacific. The deal, which collapsed on Wednesday, followed months of negotiations led by Mr. Murphy, Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, and independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
Senate Republicans say further aid to Ukraine must be tied to border security reform.
Asked whether the negotiations after the bill was passed were “futile,” Murphy said, “I think we have to recognize that every time we try to make a big compromise, there’s a chance it could fail.”
“I think it’s important that both parties continually try to find common ground, even if they fail, even on big and difficult issues like immigration,” he continued. “As we speak, we still don’t know what the funding will be for Ukraine.”
Murphy added, “But the last 48 hours of disaster within the Republican Party may have embarrassed them into supporting a clean bill that funds Ukraine, Israel, and humanitarian aid.” I don’t know. Time will tell.”
The Connecticut Democrat argued that Republicans do not “really want to improve the border” but are instead “addicted” to using the situation as an election-year issue.
Senate Republicans faced intense pressure from former President Trump to block the bill. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), one of four Republicans who voted to advance the bill, said last month that the former president wants to use the border issue as an issue against President Biden in the 2024 election. He claimed to think so.
Murphy argued in an interview with the Post that a loss to Trump in the 2024 presidential election could weaken his influence over the Republican Party.
“I hope this election is the final judgment on Mr. Trump as a figure in American politics,” Murphy said. “Maybe I’m naive, but if Trump loses again, I don’t think he’ll have the same influence over the Republican Party as he does today. If he wins, our long national nightmare will begin all over again.” That will happen.”
He also poured cold water on the idea of bipartisan immigration and border reform in the near future.
“We need to understand the nature of Republican lawmakers on immigration because they have pulled the rug out from under us so many times,” he said. “So for real immigration reform to happen, it will probably have to pass Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.”
He emphasized that some parts of the bill can stand on their own, and said the voting threshold would need to be lowered from 60 votes to 50 votes for the bill to pass.
The Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday on the Plan B solution, which strips foreign aid legislation from border security agreements.
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