Johnson doubts border deal to unlock aid to Ukraine, defying Biden
Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday spoke out against President Biden's efforts to revive stalled legislation to send aid to Ukraine, saying the Republican-led House would not pass it unless Democrats agreed to a much more serious action at the U.S.-Mexico border than they ever have. willing to consider.
Mr Johnson's latest ultimatum cast further doubt on the prospects of Congress approving Mr Biden's request for tens of billions of dollars in emergency security aid to help Ukraine fight Russia.
Republicans have pushed for such a package to be accompanied by measures to curb migration at the southwest border, and a bipartisan group of senators has made significant progress in reaching a compromise to achieve this. But the plan cannot be implemented if the House of Representatives, where a significant far-right contingent is pushing for a much stricter immigration policy, refuses to accept it.
“I told the president what I've been saying for months, which is that we need to have change at the border, substantive policy change,” Mr. Johnson told reporters after emerging from a meeting with Mr. Biden and other congressional leaders. the White House, adding: “We must insist that the border is the top priority.”
Mr. Biden convened top lawmakers from both parties, including the top lawmakers on the National Security Committee in Congress, in an urgent effort to break a months-long impasse over aid to Ukraine.
During the meeting, Mr. Biden underscored that Congress must approve funding for air defense and artillery capabilities so that Ukraine can continue to defend itself against Russia's invasion, a White House statement said, and that doing so quickly would send a strong signal of American resolve.”
“The president discussed the strategic consequences of inaction for Ukraine, the United States and the world,” the statement said. “He was clear: Congress' continued failure to act endangers the national security of the United States, the NATO Alliance, and the rest of the free world.”
The statement also noted that Mr. Biden “made clear that we must act now to address the challenges at the border.”
Democrats emerged from the meeting saying they were optimistic that a border deal was close to completion, which would pave the way for a breakthrough in Ukraine.
“There was broad agreement in the room that we needed to do this in a bipartisan manner,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and majority leader, told reporters. “I am more optimistic than ever before that we will reach an agreement. I now estimate the chances to be slightly greater than half, and this is the first time I can say that.”
Senate Republicans have also said they are hopeful of a deal. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said the Senate could vote as soon as next week on a national security spending bill that would combine border measures with military aid to Ukraine and Israel.
“I think it's time to move forward with the supplemental document, and I expect it will be before us next week,” Mr. McConnell told reporters just before heading to the White House to meet with Mr. Biden .
But Mr Johnson's continued warnings indicated such a plan could hit a wall in his chamber. He noted that Republicans in the House of Representatives had already passed a bill that included some of the border changes they would consider critical to any deal, including an end to the policy of paroling migrants entering the United States trying to get in until their court hearing, and a reinstatement of the Trump-era practice of holding migrants in Mexico when detention centers become too full.
“We insist that the elements must be meaningful,” Mr Johnson told reporters outside the White House. “The House is ready to act, but legislation must solve the problem.”
Mr Biden had called the meeting to outline the global consequences if the US reneged on its pledge to help Ukraine fight a Russian invasion.
Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, and Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, spent part of the session outlining the stakes for Ukraine, which has relied on the United States to fuel its war effort and risk is running out. sources.
“There was a tremendous focus on Ukraine,” Mr. Schumer told reporters, “and the realization that if we don't come to Ukraine's aid, the consequences for America around the world would be nothing short of devastating.”
Mr Johnson, who has repeatedly voted against aid to Ukraine, emerged from the meeting saying he believed maintaining aid to Kiev was important. But he emphasized that Republicans also needed assurances from the White House about the war before they could agree to continue donating money to the war effort there.
“We must answer the questions about strategy, about the end game and about responsibility for the American people's precious treasure,” he said, adding that border improvements should still come first.
John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, noted before the meeting that administration officials had given multiple classified and non-classified briefings to members of Congress answering such questions.
“This whole blank check idea is also not true,” Mr. Kirby said. “For every aid package we have delivered to Ukraine, we have consulted with Congress.”
Mr. Johnson has long insisted that Republicans need to see changes at the border before they agree to put Ukraine financing to a vote. At the meeting on Wednesday, Democrats challenged him directly, insisting the efforts must continue together or they would not proceed at all.
“A few people in the room said, 'Let's cross the border first,'” Schumer told reporters. “We said, 'We both have to do it together.'”
Complicating the picture are deep divisions among Republicans over the package. Leading Senate Republicans have advocated embracing the emerging border compromise, calling it the best chance the Republican Party has had in years to secure serious concessions on Democrats' border policies.
“If we had a 100 percent Republican government — president, House, Senate — we probably wouldn't be able to get a single Democratic vote to pass what Senator Lankford and the administration are trying to get together on,” Mr. McConnell said before the conference. Meeting at the White House, referring to James Lankford of Oklahoma, the lead Republican negotiator. “So this is a unique opportunity to accomplish something in a divided government that wouldn't happen under a unified government.”
Border negotiations in the Senate have continued despite Mr Johnson's opposition. The bipartisan group of senators has approved measures to make it harder for migrants to seek asylum after crossing the border and expanded detention and deportation powers.
“I've been through enough negotiations to know when you're close to being done, and I feel like we're there,” said Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, a key participant in the Senate talks.
But negotiations have yet to resolve an impasse over limiting parole, which the administration uses to let some migrants who tried to enter the United States illegally stay and work in the country until their cases can be heard in immigration court treated. The Biden administration has indicated it is unwilling to dismantle that authority, while Republicans insist they cannot support a deal that fails to limit the number of migrants released into the country on parole.
“If we don't fix parole, there won't be a deal,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, told reporters on Wednesday.