House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday said President Biden “can’t be trusted” on the border, further complicating negotiations on a national security spending deal.
Mr. Johnson was responding to Vice President Kamala Harris, who said the answer to the border chaos is to spend more money processing the newcomers and to offer those already here illegally a chance at citizenship.
“This answer from President Biden’s border czar is exactly why the administration can’t be trusted to solve the catastrophe they, themselves, created,” Mr. Johnson said. “Their idea is to attract millions more aliens, cause more pain and further surrender America’s national and economic security.”
He is staking out a firm pro-enforcement position on immigration as Congress works on the national security spending bill.
Republicans have said they can’t support more than $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine’s war against Russia without significant changes to improve the U.S. border with Mexico.
Democratic and Republican senators are negotiating over border changes. But terms of the deal that leaked have been met with derision from House Republicans who say they will reject it.
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A major sticking point is that whatever deal is reached would be left to the Biden administration to carry out — and Mr. Johnson has no faith in the president with that sort of flexibility.
Ms. Harris underscored the gap between the administration and House Republicans in her CNN interview. Asked how to fix the border, she said the goal is to “process” the newcomers better while offering a “meaningful” legal status to current immigrants without documentation.
“Sadly, people on the other side of the aisle have been playing politics with this issue,” Ms. Harris said.
The border negotiations have been going on for months, and both sides say they are reaching the finish line.
Republican senators are setting the stage for a weaker deal than what many conservatives had hoped, but they said it’s better than nothing. Senate leaders are justifying the half-a-loaf approach saying that even if the Biden administration can’t be trusted to carry out enforcement, the next president can.
“The next president on Day One would have these tools available,” said Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said the deal will be “real, meaningful and bipartisan,” but he complained that “hard right” Republicans are threatening to undermine it.
Mr. Schumer said he wants to build a large vote for the eventual bill in the Senate, hoping that bipartisanship will swamp the House and encourage them to accept it.
“There are still moving pieces, we hope to get it done as soon as possible,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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