House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Tuesday that resistance to a bipartisan agreement in the Senate to combine border and immigration policy changes with aid to Ukraine is an attempt to aid former President Trump’s presidential campaign. He denied it.
Asked at a press conference if he was trying to help President Trump, Prime Minister Johnson answered “no.” “That’s unreasonable. We have a responsibility here to fulfill our obligations.”
“Our duty as American citizens is to do the right thing and protect our citizens. The first and most important job of the federal government is to protect our citizens. We are not doing that under President Biden.” said Johnson.
House Republicans have long argued that additional aid to Ukraine should only be approved if it first addresses the immigration problem at the U.S.-Mexico border, and a bipartisan group of senators combined the two issues. They will be working on the bill for several months.
But President Trump called on Republicans, especially Johnson, to “get just a perfect deal on the border,” saying, “We’re going to get everything we need to stop this invasion of millions and millions of people.” “Unless,” he urged the Senate to reject any agreement.
The details of the deal being developed in the House of Lords have not been made public, but Mr Johnson said if what he had heard about the deal was true, the bill would “fail” in the House of Commons.
“Our majority is a minority. We have only one chamber on this issue, but we are doing everything in our power to make sure this issue is resolved,” Johnson said on Tuesday.
Democrats have accused Trump and Republicans of rejecting any border deal to avoid making the issue an issue in 2024 and giving Biden a victory.
“House Republicans, they have a choice. They want to solve the problem, they want to actually solve the problem like the Senate is trying to do on a bipartisan basis, or they can get in the way and score political points. You have to choose whether you want to make money,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at the end. week.
One of the deal’s key provisions, which is rumored to be drawing opposition from Republicans, concerns the executive branch’s power to block immigration if the number of illegal immigrants exceeds 5,000 per day. Republicans opposed to the deal say the standard should be much lower.
“How could we allow 5,000 people a day before suddenly trying to enforce the law? That’s capitulation,” Johnson said. “The goal should be zero illegal crossings, not 5,000 a day. And the president’s powers should all be used at zero.”
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), one of the Senate’s chief negotiators on the border bill, has pushed back against “internet rumors,” particularly reports that the number of border crossings is 5,000. .
Mr. Johnson has called on Mr. Biden to use his executive authority to restore border policies from the Trump administration, and said he had discussed the bill with Mr. Trump.
“I’ve talked at length with former President Trump about this issue, and he understands that…we have a responsibility here,” Johnson said. “President Trump was the first person to talk about border security. As you remember, he kept building walls and running. Why? Because he saw this devastation. He knew that if we didn’t get that system under control, we’d be in a situation, and that’s why President Trump took executive action. He used his executive powers to bring that system under control. It is.”
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