House Speaker Mike Johnson emerged from the White House after a meeting Wednesday and rejected President Biden’s bid for some concession on border policy in exchange for more war aid to Ukraine .
Mr. Johnson said the deal being cooked up in the Senate doesn’t go far enough to end the chaos at the border.
“We are insistent that the elements have to be meaningful. The House is ready to act but the legislation has to solve the problem and that’s the critical point,” Mr. Johnson , Louisiana Republican, told reporters outside the White House .
Mr. Johnson met with the president and other House and Senate leaders to discuss Mr. Biden’s long-stalled $110 billion emergency request for Ukraine , Israel and Taiwan. The package also includes money to help process the flood of illegal immigrants at the border, which opened the door to GOP demands for tougher border policies to stem the flow.
Mr. Biden and his Democrats argue that the emergency spending is crucial to bolster U.S. security at home and abroad. They also say it can’t wait any longer.
But Mr. Johnson argued that the border must be the “top priority” for Mr. Biden and Congress.
“We understand that there is concern about the safety, security [and] sovereignty of Ukraine , but the American people have those same concerns about our domestic sovereignty and our safety and security,” he said.
House Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, painted a much rosier picture when he exited the White House , saying the meeting was “good” and “positive.”
Mr. Schumer said the president was willing to make compromises on the border but Ukraine must be a priority in any deal.
“There was a tremendous focus on Ukraine and an understanding that if we don’t come to Ukraine ’s aid, the consequences around the globe would be nothing short of devastating,” he said.
The roughly $60 billion for Ukraine in the package also met resistance from House Republicans, who question how the money is being spent. The U.S. has already given $75 billion to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
House Republicans now want significant changes to Mr. Biden’s immigration policies in exchange for sending aid to Ukraine and Israel, which is at war with Hamas in Gaza.
SEE ALSO: No border security, no funding deal, says Speaker Johnson ahead of meeting with Biden
Immigration and the wars abroad are top issues for voters ahead of the 2024 election and a likely rematch of Mr. Biden and former President Donald Trump, who has made immigration the hallmark of his political movement.
Voters give Mr. Biden poor grades on his border policies. A Monmouth University poll last month found that 70% of voters — including 50% of Democrats — disapproved of his handling of the border.
The U.S. southern border has been consumed by chaos since Mr. Biden took office in January 2021. Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported more than 12,600 migrants had been encountered at the southern border in a 24-hour period, the highest single-day total ever recorded. Officials also were forced to close rail bridges between Texas and Mexico because of the influx of migrants illegally crossing on freight trains.
Earlier Wednesday at the Capitol, Mr. Johnson said wanted assurances from Mr. Biden that Ukraine “would not be another Afghanistan.”
He said he would press the president for an endgame strategy for the conflict and accountability measures to ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars are not misspent in Ukraine .
House Republicans have been pushing more stringent border policies from their border bill such as former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which Mr. Biden ended when he took office.
The House-passed bill, the Secure the Border Act or H.R. 2, was dead on arrival in the Democrat-led Senate and the White House called it a non-starter.
The Senate ’s bipartisan border negotiations would allow migrants crossing the border illegally to be immediately eligible for work permits, and allow up to 5,000 migrants to cross the border daily before new expulsion powers kick in. Those measures all but doomed the deal and the rest of the spending package in the GOP-led House.
Mr. Johnson said the border deal must include the Remain in Mexico Policy, end catch and release, reform the asylum and parole process, and restart construction of a border wall — all key provisions of the Secure the Border Act.
“Those elements are critically important,” he said. “You can’t choose from among those on a menu and assume that you’re going to solve the problem.”
However, Senate Republicans are pressing their House colleagues to fall in line with whatever border deal comes out of the bipartisan negotiations.
They say it’s a rare opportunity to strike a deal with Democrats thanks to the leverage Republicans have over Ukraine aid.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, warned not to let the opportunity slip away, though House Republicans suggest waiting until after the November election for a potential Republican president.
“If we had a 100% Republican government — president, House, Senate — we probably would not be able to get a single Democratic vote to pass what [Senate Republicans] and the administration are trying to get together,” he said. “This is a unique opportunity to accomplish something in a divided government that wouldn’t be there under a unified front.”
Senate leaders from both parties expressed renewed optimism Wednesday that a deal was on the horizon, potentially as early as next week.
The senators’ something-is-better-than-nothing argument did not sit well with House Republicans.
Conservative hardliners have threatened to vote against all government funding to force a shutdown if the White House doesn’t make a dramatic change on the border, including ending catch-and-release. Others threaten to oust Mr. Johnson if he accepts a border security deal that conservatives deem too weak.
House Republicans fumed at leaked details of ongoing border talks reported by The Washington Times that included allowing up to 5,000 illegal daily crossings before expulsion powers take effect.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the lead Democratic in the talks, conceded that the sole reason they are at the table is the stalled Ukraine aid — not because Democrats want to address the record flow of illegal crossings.
“We are having this conversation now because there is a threat to let Putin conquer Ukraine that we simply cannot live with,” Mr. Murphy said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.