On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) shocked political observers and his colleagues by recommending that Senate Republicans block any effort to advance the controversial immigration bill that is currently being negotiated.
As reported by Breitbart, the first procedural vote on the bill was set to be Wednesday, though that date is now in doubt following McConnell’s announcement. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has previously said that he will try to force the bill through.
Schumer had bragged about his work with McConnell on the bill, saying to reporters on Sunday that “I have never worked more closely with Leader McConnell on any piece of legislation as we did on this.”
Although McConnell himself has voiced support for the bill, which was primarily negotiated between Democrats and Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.), he acknowledged the numerous Republican Senators who are against the bill, as well as those who say they need more time to read the bill and see what’s in it.
Among other requirements, the bill would give greater authority to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to determine border policy, while also allowing as many as 8,500 illegal aliens to cross the border per day before the Secretary would be required to declare an emergency. It would also arbitrarily shift all legal jurisdiction for border-related disputes to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The bill would also have included another aid package for Ukraine, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine having nothing to do with the American border crisis.
In a similarly shocking development, even Lankford himself refused to say on Monday night whether or not he would vote to advance his own legislation. Between the about-faces from McConnell and Lankford, as well as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) declaration that the bill would be “dead on arrival” in the House if it passed the Senate, it is considered increasingly unlikely that the bill will pass.