WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — The Senate, the White House, and the Republican-controlled House are caught in a three-way standoff over policy changes and funding at the southern border.
President Joe Biden announced this week that he is willing to sit down with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, if it means getting more aid to Ukraine.
Johnson and House Republicans are demanding tougher border security policies in exchange for their support for the Senate-passed foreign aid package.
“This was a terrible bill,” Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said.
Cruz says he didn’t vote for the Senate’s bill because it failed to secure the southern border.
“This bill number one would not have fixed the problem,” Cruz said. “But number two, it would have made it worse.”
Cruz, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, say it is now up to House Republicans to pass a better bill.
“My hope is that Speaker Johnson will take H.R. 2, which was the tough border security package that the House already passed, and attach that to the supplemental,” Cornyn said.
But that plan is a long shot, as the House bill would need to go back to the Democrat-controlled Senate for final approval and Senate Democrats have been clear that they do not support H.R. 2.
The White House says if Republicans were serious about addressing the border, they wouldn’t have left for a two-week recess. In a memo released Wednesday, the White House slammed Johnson for not calling Congress back to Washington to negotiate a package.
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller says part of the president’s urgency to strike a deal is because Ukraine needs funding now.
“It is critical that Congress act without further delay,” Miller said. “It is now more clear than ever what the stakes are in Ukraine. Without more support from Congress, Ukraine will not be able to replenish its air defenses and ammunition supplies to help protect itself from Russia’s aggression.”
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