Published February 27, 2024
Senate Republicans are trying to wave their House GOP counterparts away from blundering into a partial government shutdown at week’s end, something that looks increasingly likely given Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) unstable grip on power over a narrow majority.
GOP senators warn a shutdown for any reason would be a political loser and imperil their prospects in November.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) delivered a stern message to his House GOP colleagues Monday afternoon, warning them that shutting down the government is not an option.
“Shutting down the government is harmful to the country. And it never produces positive outcomes — on policy or politics,” he warned on the Senate floor.
Congressional leaders failed to release the text over the weekend for legislation to fund military construction and the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy, Transportation and Housing and Urban Affairs, setting the stage for a partial government shutdown after March 1.
Senate Republicans expressed frustrations Monday afternoon over the failure to reach an agreement, noting that the funding levels of the bill have already been worked out and that a standoff over controversial policy riders is gumming up the process.
McConnell warned that if lawmakers fail to meet Friday’s deadline, “the country would face needless disruptions” in those areas.
He added that funding the government “will require that everyone rows in the same direction: toward clean appropriations and away from poison pills.”
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SOURCE: www.thehill.com
RELATED: GOP-Led States Band Together to Secure Southern Border
A U.S. Customs and Border protection agent looks through the border fence as hundreds of migrants line up under the Stanton Street Bridge to be processed after illegally entering the U.S., in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 22, 2022. (Getty Images)
Published February 27, 2024
Frustrated by the Biden administration’s hands-off approach to the porous southern border, GOP lawmakers in more than a dozen states are taking matters into their own hands.
Both by backing the efforts of Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and through their own plans, officials are working to stem the flow of illegal immigrants that they contend are putting a massive strain on public resources.
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SOURCE: www.newsmax.com
RELATED: Trump, Biden to make dueling trips to southern border
Published February 26, 2024
President Biden and former President Trump will both travel to the southern border Thursday, underscoring the key role immigration and border security is set to play in November’s elections.
Biden will visit Brownsville, Texas, as he presses Congress for action to address the flow of migrants into the United States and weighs executive action of his own to deal with the issue.
The president will meet with Border Patrol agents and local leaders and call on congressional Republicans to take up a bipartisan border security agreement put forward by the Senate, a White House official said.
The trip will coincide with plans for Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee, to make remarks at the border.
“Biden’s last-minute, insincere attempt to chase President Trump to the border won’t cut it — Americans know Biden is single-handedly responsible for the worst immigration crisis in history and the ensuing Biden Migrant Crime Crisis affecting every community in our Country,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
The record-setting number of apprehensions at the southern border in recent months has been a political liability for Biden, with Republicans blaming the White House for what they view as an immigration crisis.
Trump has hammered Biden over immigration and the border for months and has pledged to carry out a massive deportation operation if he is reelected.
The White House has stressed repeatedly that Biden sent an immigration proposal to lawmakers on his first day in office, and the president has voiced frustration that Congress has failed to take up a recent bipartisan proposal on border security.
Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) led efforts to craft a border security bill unveiled earlier this month that would have given the federal government temporary authority to expel migrants when the average number of daily crossings exceeds a set threshold, end “catch and release,” raise standards for asylum screenings and seek to process claims quicker, among other provisions.
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SOURCE: www.ktsm.com
