Border talks stuck as Senate nears vote on package for Israel, Ukraine aid

WASHINGTON — The success of the U.S. Senate in passing a $106 billion global security supplemental aid package hinges on a bipartisan agreement about U.S. border security, but any deal was at an impasse Tuesday.

“There will not be a national security bill unless and until there is serious and significant changes in security at our Southern border,” said the No. 3 Republican, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming.

To address mounting global crises, the White House requested an emergency supplemental package that includes $61.4 billion to Ukraine, $14.3 billion to Israel — including $9.15 billion in humanitarian aid to those areas — and $7 billion for Taiwan and another $13.6 billion for border security.

A procedural vote on that package, which lacks any bipartisan deal on border security, is expected Wednesday, and 60 senators would be needed for the legislation to advance.

“The bill already has very strong provisions on dealing with some of the problems that the border (has), particularly, really augmenting what we do at ports of entry to prevent the flow of fentanyl from Mexico into the United States,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said of the border security provisions in the supplemental legislation.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray of Washington released the border security bill text late Tuesday. It mirrors the White House’s request for funding.

That includes:

• $1.42 billion for staff hires for immigration judges, such as clerks, attorneys and interpreters.
•  $5.31 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to expand border security, such as fentanyl detection.
• $755 million for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to address asylum claim backlogs and work authorizations.

“We face a host of pressing national security challenges that demand continued American leadership—and immediate action from Congress,” Murray said in a statement. “It’s past time for Senators to stop tying partisan and extreme immigration proposals to a broadly bipartisan supplemental.”

Republicans tout their approach

Not only are negotiations fraught in the Senate, but there’s a snag in the House, where Republicans have signaled they won’t budge on border security polices.

In a Tuesday letter to the White House, Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said that he would not support aid to Ukraine unless the Biden administration agrees to tighten border security in line with legislation already passed in the House without any Democratic support.

“[S]upplemental Ukraine funding is dependent upon enactment of transformative change to our nation’s border security laws,” he said. “We stand ready and willing to work with the Administration on a robust border security package that protects the interests of the American people. It is well past time for the Administration to meaningfully engage with us.”

Johnson did not detail which polices he wanted, but referred to a piece of legislation that House Republicans passed in May, H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, that mirrors hard-right immigration policies of the Trump administration.

Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, said Democrats in the Senate won’t support H.R. 2.

“I’ve seen some radical ideas coming out of H.R. 2,” Durbin said. “I certainly think they go too far.”

Schumer, a New York Democrat, has also called H.R. 2 a “nonstarter” in the Senate.

Seeking agreement

A bipartisan group of six senators is trying to work out an agreement on border security proposals. Those six senators include Democrats Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Michael Bennet of Colorado, independent Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Republicans Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and James Lankford of Oklahoma.

Murphy, a key negotiator for a deal on border security, said that “the things that Republicans are putting on the table, don’t have any Democratic votes.”

“I still don’t sense any seriousness from Republicans to cut a deal,” Murphy said.

Murphy also questioned whether some Republicans were pushing for those border change policies as a way to sabotage the chances of passing aid to Ukraine.

“A cynic would say the goal here is to take down Ukraine funding,” he said. “Every single day that goes by without any reasonable offer from Republicans is a day that Vladimir Putin gets closer to marching through Ukraine into Europe.”

Lankford, the lead GOP negotiator on border security talks, said that senators have focused on the increase of migrants at the border who are claiming asylum.

“We’re working through the details as we get through a section that we can find agreement on,” he said, adding that he’s still optimistic that a deal can be reached by the end of the year.

White House warning on Ukraine

On border security talks in the Senate, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday said the Biden administration would “let them have those conversations,” and would stand by as negotiations play out.

The White House on Monday also sent out a letter warning Congress that without more funding for Ukraine, the United States will no longer be able to provide that country with military assistance, weakening Ukraine’s ability to fight off Russia.

On the Senate floor, Schumer accused Republicans of holding funding for Ukraine “hostage.” He blamed Republicans of putting forth “radical immigration polices that come from Donald Trump.”

“If Republicans are unable to produce a broadly bipartisan immigration proposal, they should not block aid to Ukraine in response,” he said. “They should not be resorting to hostage taking.”

On the Senate floor, McConnell said that the supplemental needs to address U.S. border security. He pushed back against accusations that Republicans weren’t serious about border negotiations.

“Anyone who suggests that Senate Republicans are injecting the issue of border security into this discussion at the last minute either isn’t serious or hasn’t been paying attention,” McConnell said.