Unable to pass a “border security” bill last week that provided three times as much Ukraine war funding as actual border security funding, the Ukraine-First Caucus within the U.S. Congress is now attempting to a pass a “clean” Ukraine war funding bill.
Taking the lead of the Ukraine-First Caucus is U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who earlier today took to the U.S. Senate floor to announce…
The vote we will soon take to provide military weapons for Ukraine is the most important vote we will ever take as United States senators.
“The most important vote we will ever take.”
For Romney’s caucus, U.S. border security takes a back seat to Ukraine’s security.
It was this caucus that tried to pass a “border” bill that would’ve provided $60 billion to Ukraine, but only $20 to secure the U.S. border.
It was this caucus that prevented the impeachment last week of feckless U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who this weekend said the Biden Administration bears “no responsibility” for the border crisis.
Thankfully, it is this caucus who is running up against a border wall in the form of the America First Caucus.
This caucus includes U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) who called out the “bullshit” border bill, and exposed a Trump Presidency “kill switch” in the Ukraine funding bill.
It includes U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) who yesterday led a 4-hours-long filibuster on the Ukraine funding bill.
And, now, it appears it includes U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) who today announced that the House is committed to addressing the crisis at the U.S. southern border before addressing funding of foreign nations:
House Republicans were crystal clear from the very beginning of discussions that any so-called national security supplemental legislation must recognize that national security begins at our own border. The House acted ten months ago to help enact transformative policy change by passing the Secure Our Border Act, and since then, including today, the Senate has failed to meet the moment.
The Secure Our Border Act, passed by the House in May 2023 would, among other measures, force the Biden Administration to resume construction of the border wall, end catch-and-release, and fund additional U.S. Border Patrol agents and provide pay increases to current agents.
Last week, almost as soon as the “border security bill” (the one that funded Ukraine 3x more than the U.S.) was introduced, Speaker Johnson declared it “dead on arrival.”
Now, he said the House will simply continue its work to get its own border bill passed.
In the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters. America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.
Meanwhile, Ukraine-first politicians like Mitt Romney will continue to announce that Ukraine’s military funding is more important than potential terrorists coming across our border, being caught, and released back into the U.S. population.