TEXAS v. BIDEN HEATS UP
A southern border showdown between President Joe Biden’s administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is heating up.
Republicans have long accused the administration of failing to keep the border secure.
Since Biden took office, Border Patrol has encountered some 6.5 million illegal immigrants along the southern border, stretching state resources thin across the United States.
Texas National Guardsmen add razor wire and barriers along the U.S.–Mexico border in Shelby Park, Eagle Pass, Texas, on Jan. 23, 2024. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times
Perhaps no state has been hit as hard by the influx of illegal crossers as Texas, which shares roughly 1,200 miles of border with Mexico.
In response, Abbott has ordered the state’s National Guard to place razor wire along the border.
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In federal courts, Biden has claimed that Texas is undermining the federal government’s prerogative to handle the border.
In a recent 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Border Patrol is allowed to remove the razor wire placed along the border by the Texas National Guard.
Nevertheless, Abbott says that he’ll move ahead with previously planned razor wire installations despite the Court’s divided decision.
Following the ruling, Abbott posted a statement on X accusing the federal government of having “broken the compact between the United States and the states.”
Now, as the showdown threatens to intensify into a full-scale standoff, battle lines are being drawn.
In response, some Democrats have urged the administration to “federalize” the Texas National Guard. A White House spokesperson, yesterday, however dodged about whether the president was considering this action.
“I don’t have any decisions to speak to for the president. I don’t have anything on that,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
On the other side of the divide, President Donald Trump has indicated that he’s with Abbott.
“Instead of fighting to protect our country from this onslaught, Biden is, unbelievably, fighting to tie the hands of Governor Abbott and the state of Texas, so that the invasion continues unchecked,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Texas … must be given full support to repel the Invasion”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also indicated that he supports Texas’ actions.
“I stand with Gov. Abbott. The House will do everything in its power to back him up,” Mr. Johnson said in a Jan. 24 post on X.
Some Republican governors are also siding with Abbott, including Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and several others.
The burgeoning showdown is the culmination of years of Republican frustration with Biden’s border policies.
What happens next in the struggle depends in part on the conservative Supreme Court, which is expected to weigh in on the matter later this year.
—Joseph Lord and Nathan Worcester
TRUMP RACKS UP ENDORSEMENTS
Following Trump’s historic back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, many lawmakers are falling into line behind the former president’s bid to reclaim the White House.
Ahead of the Iowa Caucus, Trump already had a near-monopoly on Congressional support: a day ahead of Iowa, Trump had been endorsed by 111 House Republicans and 24 Senate Republicans.
DeSantis, by contrast, had the backing of only five House Republicans. Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley had only one Congressional backer.
Trump’s position among Congressional Republicans only improved after the formal start of the primaries.
In Iowa, Trump won a record-breaking 51 percent support. Haley, the only candidate still in the race, came in a distant third, more than 30 points behind Trump.
Following that win, Trump received the backing of a handful of holdouts, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.)—both former rivals. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), seen as a VP shortlister, also backed him, as did Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).
Trump was also endorsed by Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Bob Good (R-Va.), the House Freedom Caucus chair, following his win in Iowa.
In New Hampshire, Trump won again by a double-digit margin.
That brought him the endorsement of Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), a Texas Republican known for his centrist streak.
For some, the race is seen as practically over.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said as much.
“I don’t think there’s any good to be gained from Republicans continuing to fight each other. He’s gonna be the nominee,” Hawley told The Epoch Times. “Our common goal is to beat Joe Biden. Let’s unite and be Joe Biden.”
“I’ve come to conclude that Donald Trump is going to be the nominee. He’s going to win South Carolina by 30 points,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), an early Trump backer, told reporters.
But he added, “I would urge her to think about … how this ends and when it ends,” he said. “The sooner it ends, the better I think. But it’s up to her to make that decision.”
There are some notable absences in Trump’s long list of Congressional backers, including the top 2 Senate Republicans, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Whip Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)
Still, most Congressional Republicans are supporting Trump, whether enthusiastically or resignedly, and most recognize that the odds are in his favor to be the party’s 2024 nominee.
—Joseph Lord
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- A Manhattan federal court hears closing arguments in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case against Trump.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade are expected to face subpoenas over allegations of an affair between the two, CNN claimed in a report. The two lawyers are leading the election subversion case against Trump in Georgia.
Attorneys for Trump asked a judge overseeing his Georgia election case to disqualify Willis over allegations that she engaged in an improper relationship with Wade, while also accusing her of making “racially charged statements,” The Epoch Times’ Jack Phillips reports.
Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House adviser, has been sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay $9,500 in fines for his refusal to comply with congressional subpoenas that he said were covered by executive privilege, The Epoch Times’ Sam Dorman reports. Last year, Navarro refused a subpoena by the now-defunct Jan. 6 committee, prompting Democrats to recommend contempt of Congress charges against the former White House adviser.
As Trump prepares to make the case to the Supreme Court, one important body hasn’t weighed in: the Biden administration. Politico reported on the administration’s silence in the politically-fraught case—and why it’s unusual.
