The Senate’s new border deal officially imploded Wednesday as Republicans mounted a filibuster, saying the agreement they helped negotiate ended up being too much of a stinker.

The failed endeavor called into question whether there was any path forward in Congress before the November elections for new immigration laws or tens of billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Israel and Ukraine, which was coupled with the border provisions. 

The vote was 49-50, leaving it well shy of the 60 votes needed to proceed. 

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer planned to hold a second vote later Wednesday to take up a bill including money for Israel and Ukraine but without the border deal. 

That idea seemed to gain momentum among Republicans.

Still, Mr. Schumer lashed out at Republicans for the collapse of the border agreement, saying they chose to “cower to Donald Trump’s orders.”

“Donald Trump doesn’t like that the Senate finally reached a bipartisan border deal so he has demanded Republicans kill it. He thinks it is far better to keep the border in chaos so he can exploit it for personal political gains,” the New York Democrat said.

Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, called that “fake outrage.”

He said Republicans soured on the deal after they saw it because it left too much in the hands of President Biden, whom the GOP believes has subverted immigration laws and created the current border mess, despite having the same tools as Mr. Trump.

“We have no confidence — zero confidence — that the Biden administration will enforce the law when it comes to the border,” Mr. Cornyn said.

The border deal, negotiated by one Republican, one Democrat and one independent senator, would have created a new expulsion authority for when the flow of illegal immigrants crossed certain thresholds, expanded the government’s deportation machinery, stiffened asylum standards, and reined in some Biden administration catch-and-release practices.

It also delayed deadlines for border wall construction, included hundreds of thousands of new guest workers, gave a path to citizenship to Afghans airlifted out in the chaotic 2021 U.S. troop withdrawal and granted government-funded lawyers to illegal immigrant children. It also did not include legalization of “Dreamers” or other illegal immigrants.

Backers said they were convinced it would reduce the record flows of illegal immigrants at the border, though they were unable to guess by how much.

“It definitely makes a difference,” said Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the Republicans’ chief negotiator.

Opponents said the changes might shift the demographics of who’s coming, but they doubted the overall numbers would dip much, which they said undercut the reasons for the bill in the first place.

Mr. Cornyn said the proposal still allowed Mr. Biden to conduct catch-and-release of new border migrants, and preserved some of his powers of “parole,” which he’s used to admit more than 1.5 million unauthorized migrants.

Republicans’ ire was also matched on the left by immigrant-rights activists, who saw the deal as a return to the policies of Mr. Trump, which they have labeled “cruel” and “xenophobic.”

They had excoriated Mr. Biden for embracing the deal, calling it a betrayal of his campaign promise to undo what Mr. Trump had done. They also complained about the deal’s lack of legal status for illegal immigrants.

Even if the deal had cleared the Senate, it was going to be torpedoed in the House, where liberals and conservatives alike were lining up against it.

Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, complained that Hispanic lawmakers were entirely shut out of the negotiations, which he said would have been like leaving Black lawmakers out of crafting a voting-rights bill.

The money for Israel included in the package was also likely a factor in some of the Democratic votes in opposition.

Still other Democrats said they voted to move forward Wednesday as a sign of commitment to the process, but didn’t support the actual bill.

The border agreement’s collapse left senators wondering about whether this Congress could reach big deals on other pressing matters.

Lawmakers are still trying to finish the annual spending bills for 2024, which are already four months late, and then they’ll immediately have to get to work on the 2025 bills, which are due by Sept. 30.

Fingers pointed every which way this week as the border deal collapsed, but who killed it perhaps is less important than whom the public will blame for the ongoing chaos at the border itself.

For the last several years, that blame has fallen squarely on Democrats, and Republicans said it should remain there.

“Make no mistake about it, this is the Biden border crisis,” said Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican. “This was totally avoidable. When he came into office, he reversed all the policies of the previous administration and now we’re seeing the results of that, has been absolute onslaught at our southern border. It is completely, completely out of control.”

But Democrats said in sinking the deal, Republicans should be blamed for what happens now.

“You own this,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat.

The second vote, featuring only the foreign aid without the border deal, was what Republicans originally rejected months ago before negotiations.

But after souring on the border component, Senate GOP leaders conceded that may be the only avenue to get U.S. aid to allies that are battling adversaries on their doorsteps.

“First, Republicans said they would only do Ukraine and Israel [and] humanitarian aid with border. Then, they said they would not do it with border,” Mr. Schumer said. “We’re going to give them both options.”

But even if the chamber musters enough support to green-light the aid, it is almost certainly dead on arrival with House Republicans because of their opposition to more money for Ukraine.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.