[ad_1]
In a closed meeting Wednesday afternoon, Mr. McConnell has pushed for funding for Ukraine and reluctantly agreed to tie foreign aid to border security, according to two people familiar with his comments, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He acknowledged the politics involved in passing a border agreement. private meeting.
Mr. McConnell’s doubts, with support from right-wing media, are a sign that a significant number of Republican senators, with support from right-wing media, are calling for a border security deal to be approved even before details are released and despite warnings about the influx of migrants into the border security deal. This came to light in response to growing opposition to the border.
Negotiations have focused on making it harder for immigrants to apply for asylum, changing how the president applies parole to immigrants and effectively closing the border on days when there are particularly high levels of border crossings. The overall aid package includes military aid to Israel, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific countries, as well as humanitarian assistance and U.S. border funds.
Negotiations are ongoing and the final product is nearing. And several of Mr. McConnell’s allies said Thursday that Mr. McConnell has not given up on talks.
“What he was talking about was what he saw as kind of a political agenda moving forward,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “He wasn’t waving the white flag at all on border security.”
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the top Republican negotiator, said Thursday that McConnell was simply outlining tough political realities for Republicans in light of Trump’s opposition, and that he was “doing nothing about negotiations at all.” He stated that he had no intention of “damaging” the project.
“Some people oppose this bill because of the president’s politics, not the actual crisis at the border,” Lankford said.
But leaders have scrapped the border security portion of the package and are now discussing pushing for additional funding that would include aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific, according to three people familiar with the talks.
“We’re going to have to drive hard to get this done, and if we don’t get it done, we’ll go to Plan B,” said Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 ranking Republican. “At least for now, attempts are still being made to reach a conclusion.”
Negotiators of the deal said the next day will be critical to the future of negotiations.
“The Republican conference will make a decision in the next 24 hours about whether Republicans actually want to get something done or whether they want to leave the border in disarray for political reasons,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D). It’s going to happen,” he said. (Connecticut), Democratic Party’s chief negotiator. “If the Republicans blow this up, Vladimir Putin will win the war and Europe will be at risk.”
In a press conference on Wednesday, Mr. McConnell raised the possibility that Mr. Trump, who won the New Hampshire primary, would nominate him as the presidential nominee, and talked about the border agreement, according to people familiar with his remarks, which were first reported by Punchbowl News. He said that the situation has changed. Last week, President Trump publicly encouraged Republicans on his Truth Social social media account not to accept any border deal with Democrats and promised to get a better deal when he becomes president. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) recently said on Fox News that President Trump is “very adamant” that the deal should be rejected. “He and I talk about this quite often,” Johnson said.
Near the end of Wednesday evening’s Republican conference, Mr. McConnell took the floor to address the meeting and explained the choices he faced, according to a person familiar with his remarks. McConnell said Trump, whom McConnell called his “candidate,” wants to campaign on border destruction, and McConnell doesn’t want to weaken his campaign. He said politics had changed. McConnell also read a statement from then-President Trump saying border laws needed to change.
Senior Republican aides said Mr. McConnell pointed out that this was the first border negotiation that did not include Democratic demands for a path to legalization for millions of illegal immigrants, adding that no border-only deal would include It warned that it had an expiration date. If Trump wins the White House, Democrats will demand immigration reform in exchange for border security.
McConnell’s comments came during a conference on the subject of funding to Ukraine, which continues to fend off Russian aggression, despite being unpopular among Republican voters. It was a top priority. Several Republican senators oppose continuing U.S. aid to the battleground country.
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said of the atmosphere at the meeting, “Everyone is of the same opinion about Vladimir Putin. He’s a thug.” “He invaded a country. Is it a settled issue, does it need to be negotiated, or even if we keep spending money, will there be some consequences in the end, that’s what many people are wondering. It’s a problem.”
Some conservatives say a deal on the border would be a victory on one of President Biden’s weakest issues, with less than a year left until re-election. Republican advocates for the negotiations say that if the deal passes, negotiations over border security will not include Democratic demands to grant citizenship or legal residency to immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. He pointed out that it was the first time in ten years. Dream act.
“I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he’s telling Republican senators and congressmen that he doesn’t want the border issue resolved because he wants to blame Biden is really It’s scary,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters Thursday.
Jacob Bogage contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
