“We must go back to where we started.” – Maxine Nightingale, 1976
There’s an old saying on Capitol Hill.
If you have a vote, vote.
you don’t get upset. No dithering. you won’t be late
you vote
However, a bipartisan coalition of Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) has so far supported the border security plan. It is unclear whether he cast a vote. We may never know. But one thing is for sure: their bill, even if it wasn’t complete, seems to have gotten far more votes and could have probably been passed in early January rather than February. I’m saying that.
This is not to shift the blame onto the three people who negotiated this bill. There are only so many factors that senators can control. Creating laws is a difficult and tedious process. Murphy was a member of the House of Representatives and was elected to the Senate in late 2012 when a mass shooting occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the district. He is a veteran of the punitive and arduous battles and debates over gun control. At one point during border bill negotiations, Murphy declared that legislation on firearms would be easy compared to working on legislation to fix the border.
However, there was a delay in announcing the text of the bill. Lankford speculated to Fox in early January that a release would be days away.
He only had one month off.
Two weeks ago, Mr. Sinema reiterated to reporters in the Senate hallway that he was very close to completing the bill. But the senator said they are still trying to file a slew of bills and make everything the way it is.
“We don’t like to make mistakes,” she said.
That’s understandable.
Border security and immigration occupy a complex and arcane area of the U.S. Code. Negotiators repeatedly commented that changing just one word here or there could have significant unintended consequences. Therefore, you can also understand the need to work hard to make things right.
Time was not on their side.
In contrast, time circleI’m on the side of the bill’s opponents.
And they had time in their favor.
The gap between when negotiators began drafting the bill and when they finally released the text created a narrative gap for those seeking to defeat the bill. Opponents filled the void with their own talking points about the then-unfinished bill. They focused on a provision that would allow at least 5,000 people to enter the country illegally per day. Lankford said that’s simply not true. Still, the allegations sparked outrage on the right. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was unaware of the negotiations, but he declared the bill “dead on arrival” on the floor long before anyone had seen the text.
You need to define yourself or be defined in politics. The same goes for laws. The Senate’s drag on the bill allowed conservatives to define what the bill was long before its authors could say what it was not.
Dead on arrival?
It’s unlikely. The bill died before departure.
A small number of Democrats are likely to oppose the bill. But the goal was to win the support of half of all Senate Republicans. In other words, at least 25 of the 49 Senate Republicans will be elected. Lankford and others claimed they were at the stadium the day before the bill was passed. But hours later, Republican support had dwindled to just a few senators.
Bills plummeted.
This is ironic — because it was Senate Republicans who demanded that serious border security measures be prepared before Democrats would consider aiding Ukraine. Bipartisan negotiations have begun. And Republicans euthanized that effort.
Murphy was furious.
“The Republican Party is in a nightmare mess right now,” Murphy lamented. “I don’t know if Republicans want to vote on Ukraine. Neither the border nor Ukraine. Neither. This is not the best place for the Senate when you don’t understand what the Republican caucus wants.”
Indeed, Democrats have been aggressive about border security. But the thrust of President Biden’s request for additional spending last fall was to help Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
So while Democrats may be angry about the current situation, the international aid bill is what they always wanted. Meanwhile, everything on the Republican side was in disarray.
And let’s not forget that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is perhaps Ukraine’s biggest champion in either body. But McConnell found himself in an uncharacteristically awkward position. He misread the temperature of the conference. Moreover, no Republican is more antipathetic to former President Trump than the minority leader. But the former president’s efforts to undermine the border plan resulted in a victory. McConnell lost.
It may be surprising that it took this long for MAGA-aligned senators to start tearing apart their leadership. But this is what McConnell is facing now. Conservatives, from old Tea Party supporters to those now associated with former President Trump, have long had a difficult time with former House Speakers John Boehner, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy. Now, McConnell faces the same problem.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has been publicly feuding with McConnell for years. Cruz told Fox News’ Aisha Husney that it’s time for McConnell to go. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) also offered more specific criticism of McConnell when he spoke with Husney.
“He doesn’t talk to members. He doesn’t listen to members. He doesn’t talk to members. He’s very focused on (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy,” Hawley said. “Is it any wonder the Republicans are up in arms and finally figuring it out? That’s an interesting leadership style. I’ll tell you that.”
McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in U.S. history, owes much of his success to playing his cards close to the vest. But the hand McConnell is currently playing may not be working out in his favor. McConnell suffered multiple health problems last year. Former President Trump said he would love to oust McConnell if he returned to the White House. Another health issue, combined with Trump’s hostility toward McConnell, could spell doom for the Kentucky Republican.
But in the short term, Mr. McConnell may get what he wanted in the first place: aid to Ukraine.
Remember, the original bill was supposed to help Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The border bill fell apart almost as soon as it was announced. There are radioactive isotopes that will be retained longer than the bipartisan border bill.
In the words of 70s crooner Maxine Nightingale, it takes us back to where we started.
