The office of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) acknowledged that it is increasingly unlikely that the U.S. Senate will pass a major bill on border security between now and the election at the end of the year.
According to Fox News, the spokesman from Johnson’s office said that the most likely scenario under which any border security legislation can pass is if former President Donald Trump wins the November election and returns to power. Until then, with Joe Biden in the White House and Democrats narrowly in control of the Senate, such a bill will likely never clear the Senate.
“House Republicans have passed multiple border security bills – including our signature Secure the Border Act, Laken Riley Act, and Consequences for Social Security Fraud Act – which have been ignored by the Democrat Senate and proves their unseriousness when it comes to dealing with the border catastrophe,” the spokesman pointed out. “Democrats have only proposed measures for political cover that won’t fix the problem, and Republicans are not going to let the White House accept anything less than transformative change.”
The remarks come after the House overwhelmingly passed a $95 billion aid package also proposed by Johnson, which supported such countries as Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Unlike the staunch Democratic opposition to any border legislation, the foreign aid package passed with bipartisan support, including half of the Republican members.
Conservatives in the House have criticized Johnson for failing to work border security into the foreign aid package, which would have forced Democrats to either support it or keep up the legislative stalemate.
“The only path forward for substantive border legislation was to leverage the Biden regime’s push for more Ukraine aid,” said Congressman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) on X last week.
Throughout the presidential primaries this year, Republican voters have overwhelmingly indicated in exit polls that immigration is their top issue ahead of the general election, thus boosting the already-strong campaign of President Trump, who has vowed to secure the southern border and enact a nationwide deportation operation.