House Republican leaders said Monday the bipartisan Senate deal on southern border security has zero chance of becoming law.

“Any consideration of this Senate bill in its current form is a waste of time,” House GOP leaders said in a joint statement. “It is DEAD on arrival in the House. We encourage the U.S. Senate to reject it.”

The stark warning was a shot across the bow from Speaker Mike Johnson to his Senate counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who praised the agreement but is struggling to line up support among Republican senators.

The legislation, which will be attached to a $118 billion national security package with aid for Ukraine and Israel, would expand the government’s deportation force, speed up immigration court hearings and give President Biden new powers to block illegal crossings at the border. But those authorities would only kick in when the flow of migrants averages more than 4,000 per day.

Mr. Johnson, joined in his statement by Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, insisted the Senate deal “fails in every policy area needed to secure our border and would actually incentivize more illegal immigration.”

They suggested that the only border policy measure they would consider is a stricter immigration bill that passed the House last year, known as H.R. 2.

“That bill contains the necessary components to actually stem the flow of illegals and end the present crisis,” the House Republicans said. “The Senate must take it up immediately. America’s sovereignty is at stake.”

Mr. Johnson declined an invitation from Senate negotiators to participate during their talks over the past several months, opting instead to continue advocating for H.R. 2.

The Senate will need 60 votes on Wednesday to clear a procedural hurdle on the border deal that’s coupled with the aid package. But with Senate progressives and conservatives also balking at the deal, the growing number of misgivings has jeopardized its path forward.

Senate Republican leadership is calling the immigration provisions a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to address the crisis at the southern border.

Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the lead Republican negotiator, accused GOP critics of throwing away a rare moment to fix at least some of the border security issues.

“Are [we] going to just complain about things or address and change as many things as we can?” Mr. Lankford said on Fox News.

• Stephen Dinan contributed to this story.

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