WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Senators are moving ahead with their $118 billion national security bill that pairs U.S. border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine and Israel, but it’s already been declared “dead on arrival” in the House.
The deal was months in the making and it didn’t take long for some House Republicans to shoot the bill down.
“I think it’s a really important bipartisan compromise and my belief is that we can get this through the Senate,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
Murphy worked with Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford to negotiate the bill which would speed up asylum claims and give the president authority to shut down the border if daily crossings average more than 5,000.
“My focus is how do we prevent this not just for the next four years, but for the next 40 years regardless of who’s president,” said Lankford.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called it one of the most important pieces of legislation to come out of the Senate in years.
“We can’t let politics get in the way of passing this legislation,” Schumer said.
However, it quickly received pushback from the Republicans in the House, as Speaker Mike Johnson said on X,”If this bill reaches the House, it will be dead on arrival.”
Both Republican Pennsylvania Rep. John Joyce and South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman argue the bill would make the border less secure.
“This is a bill that will only make our nation more dangerous,” said Joyce while Norman claimed, “this is not immigration control.”
President Joe Biden is applauding the Senate’s border deal and is urging Congress to pass it quickly.
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