Senate Republicans will vote against the proposed border bill proceeding to a floor vote, according to a news report.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed a cloture motion Monday on the legislation, which includes funding for Ukraine and Israel. That motion sets up a potential vote on Wednesday.
However, “In a dramatic turnaround, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell recommended to GOP senators in a closed-door meeting that they vote against the first procedural vote Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the meeting who were not authorized to talk publicly about it and spoke anonymously,” The Associated Press reported.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota said Tuesday it was “unlikely” that his Republican colleagues will vote to proceed.
“I think it’s unlikely because I just think our members are still — they want more time to evaluate it,” he said, according to The Hill.
“My intention is to, at least on the motion to proceed, to vote where I think most of our conference is going to be, which is ‘no,’” he added.
Even GOP Sen. James Lankford, who helped negotiate the deal and has taken plenty of heat from the right for doing it, said on Monday that he does not know whether he will vote to proceed, according to The Hill.
However, according to CNN, he said that if he voted “no,” it would only be to give Republicans more time to look it over.
“I’m not undecided on my own bill. I think it’s a good thing to be able to do,” he said, according to CNN. “The biggest issue that I have is obviously I’ve got a lot of members that have questions on it. It’s not going to move and become law if we try to be able to force this right now on it.”
Should Republicans kill the border bill?
Schumer acknowledged Tuesday that the prospects for the bill moving forward this week look “gloomy.”
“After months of good faith negotiations, after months of giving Republicans many of the things they asked for, McConnell and the Republican conference are ready to kill the national security supplemental package, even with the border provisions they so fervently demanded,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Democrats hold a 51 to 49 majority in the Senate, including three independents who caucus with them.
Approval from 60 senators is needed to overcome a filibuster and proceed to a vote, so Schumer would need at least nine Republicans to join him to invoke cloture ending debate.
The Hill noted not all the Republicans who plan to vote against cloture this week are necessarily opposed to the legislation, but want changes to it.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Monday he looks “forward to the amendment process to try to improve the bill,” The Hill reported.
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota also said he would be a “no” vote.
“I think the amendment process is very important. Me personally, I like what’s in it for defense. And I think a number of items for the border would definitely improve the border situation,” he said, according to The Hill.
President Joe Biden came out in support of the bill, while former President Donald Trump opposes it.
Trump posted on Truth Social Monday, “The ridiculous ‘Border’ Bill is nothing more than a highly sophisticated trap for Republicans to assume the blame on what the Radical Left Democrats have done to our Border, just in time for our most important EVER Election. Don’t fall for it!!!”
Biden accused Republicans of “caving” because of Trump’s opposition.
“Every day, between now and November, the American people are gonna know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” Biden said in remarks from the White House on Tuesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson opposes the bill calling it “dead on arrival” in the House. He has argued that Biden has the authority with existing laws to shut down the border, but he won’t.
A key criticism of the border bill among the GOP, including Trump, is that it allows 5,000 illegal immigrants a day in for processing before a mandatory border shutdown would take effect.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in an X post on Sunday wrote, “Let me be clear: The Senate Border Bill will NOT receive a vote in the House. Here’s what the people pushing this ‘deal’ aren’t telling you: It accepts 5,000 illegal immigrants a day and gives automatic work permits to asylum recipients—a magnet for more illegal immigration.”
Let me be clear: The Senate Border Bill will NOT receive a vote in the House.
Here’s what the people pushing this “deal” aren’t telling you: It accepts 5,000 illegal immigrants a day and gives automatic work permits to asylum recipients—a magnet for more illegal immigration.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) February 5, 2024
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the former Democrat who is now independent, who helped negotiate the proposed bill, told Phoenix news radio station KTAR on Monday that “5,000 refers to total migrants attempting to cross the border – not the number of individuals allowed into the country.”
Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, has endorsed the legislation.
He told Fox News Tuesday there are “plenty of weaknesses, but also a lot of strengths” in the bill.
Judd explained that it is currently a slow month for illegal border crossings, and border patrol is still encountering about 6,700 apprehensions per day.
Judd: This does not say we’ll release 5,000 people into the united States. It’s the exact opposite. It says that we’ll hold single adults in custody. They will not be subject to release. So that is a huge deterrent. pic.twitter.com/9qZHe58fdD
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 6, 2024
“This does not say that we are going to release 5,000 people into the United States in fact, it’s the exact opposite,” he said. “It says that we will hold single adults in custody. It is a huge deterrent.”
“That will deter an awful lot of people from crossing our borders illegally. We know that the main magnet of people [who] cross our borders because they are going to be released into the United States,” Judd added.
The union president called the bill overall a “step in the right direction,” which he would rather have than being stuck with the status quo.
