Staff Reports
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is making waves with his latest recommendation to his fellow Republicans, urging them to shoot down a wishy-washy border bill crafted with input from Democrats. McConnell’s call throws a monkey wrench into ongoing talks about domestic security and funding for Ukraine and Israel and has left Capitol Hill in a tizzy.
? JUST IN: New Development Could Tank Disastrous Border Billhttps://t.co/9uyXiaQztL
— ????Josh Dunlap???? ULTRA-MAGA (@JDunlap1974) February 6, 2024
Veteran reporter Jake Sherman has the inside scoop that McConnell stirred the pot in a closed-door GOP meeting, encouraging his colleagues to give a thumbs-down to a deal that’s been under fire from conservatives. The bone of contention? This deal would green-light up to 5,000 illegal migrant crossings per day. That’s half of the current amount of crossings along the southern border – and conservatives aren’t having it.
This move by McConnell is a major buzzkill for Democrats and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), who’ve been trying to hammer out a plan that would crack down on migrants in exchange for shelling out billions of dollars for overseas wars, as requested by President Joe Biden. And to throw more salt in the wound, conservative House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has slammed the brakes on this bill, saying it’s as good as dead if it lands on his desk. Johnson even sassily added that the proposed laws for the border are more like troublemakers than problem solvers.
Speaking of sassy, Johnson took to Fox News to lay down the law, claiming that the bill would basically roll out the red carpet for illegal immigration. It wouldn’t fix the broken asylum system or the parole process. And adding insult to injury, it would give more power to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas – a dude that House Republicans are gunning to impeach. Johnson isn’t having any of it and is telling it like it is.
The fallout from McConnell’s move is ricocheting back at Sen. Lankford, who’s catching flak from critics for supposedly falling for McConnell’s scheme and getting played like a fiddle. Sean Davis, founder of The Federalist, is throwing shade at McConnell, accusing him of setting up Lankford for failure while he sits pretty and watches the chaos unfold. According to Davis, McConnell picked Lankford because he’s not up for re-election until 2028 and doesn’t have the chops to tango with the likes of Schumer and Biden. Ouch.
Meanwhile, during a GOP powwow, several Republican senators raised a ruckus about a whopping $118 billion spending package, signaling that they’re not on board with it. McConnell, initially on board with tying beefier border security to international funding, eventually caved and told his colleagues they could give the bill the cold shoulder if they weren’t feeling it. The indecision was palpable, and it looks like the bill has hit a major roadblock.
And if things weren’t spicy enough, former President Donald Trump stormed onto the scene with some choice words against the deal, giving more ammo to conservatives who’d rather see Biden shoulder the blame for the surge in illegal crossings than cozy up to negotiations in an election year. Trump called the border bill a sneaky trap set by the left and insisted on a separate bill to tackle border and immigration issues without any ties to foreign aid.
Looks like McConnell’s move has shaken up the political landscape and left everyone scrambling for cover. This border bill drama is just getting started, and you can bet there’ll be more twists and turns before it’s all said and done.
