Responding to a draft deal on the border and foreign aid funding that originated in the Senate after negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson firmly shut down the idea of such a deal. In doing so, he stood by his position that border security must come first and the Biden Administration must secure the border.
His comment came in response to a summary of the Schumer-Lankford border deal provided by Fox News which said it would “Increase green cards by 50,000/year,” provide “Work permits for adult children of H-1B holders,” provide “Immediate work permits to every illegal alien released from custody,” give “Taxpayer funded lawyers to certain UACs and mentally incompetent aliens,” establish that there are “5,000 migrants per day allowed into U.S.,” and “Restricts parole for those who enter without authorization between ports of entry.”
Shooting that down on X, Speaker Johnson posted “Absolutely Not” alongside a screenshot of the deal’s summary. Conservative commentator DC Draino, posting about the Speaker’s vow, said, “If Speaker Johnson blocks this atrocious open borders bill sponsored by backstabbing RINO sellout James Lankford, he will move 1 step back closer to our good graces. We still want him to say “Absolutely not” to DC’s reckless spending [too]”
Speaking to Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham about the situation at the border after a meeting at the White House with President Biden, Speaker Johnson said, “What I told President Biden at the White House today is the same thing that I’ve been saying to him since I was handed the gavel to become speaker, and that is our border, our national border, is national security.” He continued, “That has to be top of mind. That’s what the American people demand, that’s what they deserve and that’s what the House Republicans are united around.”
Continuing, Speaker Johnson said that the Senate should pass a version of HR 2, the House’s solution to the border crisis. Describing what it would do to reign in the border chaos, he said, “We reform asylum and the broken parole process. We restore the Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, which is essential, and you end catch and release. We need to rebuild the wall. There are other elements as well.”
Making similar points in an appearance on Face the Nation, he said, “If you don’t end catch and release as a policy, if you don’t reinstitute remain in Mexico, if you only fix asylum or parole and not these other things, then you don’t solve the problem. You don’t stem the flow here.”
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Further, speaking about the matter at a Wednesday press conference, Speaker Johnson said, “We’re not playing politics at this. We’re demanding real, transformative policy change, because that’s what the American people need and deserve, and that they’re demanding as well.”
The Senate has so far refused to pass a version of HR 2, with Sen. Lankford, the Republican behind the deal with Sen. Schumer, reportedly saying that he thinks it is unrealistic for House Republicans to expect the Democrat-controlled Senate to pass a version of it.
Watch Speaker Johnson discuss the matter with Laura Ingraham here:
Featured image credit: By Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America – Mike Johnson, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=139920652