House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on Jan. 30 that he is not trying to kill a pending bipartisan Senate border deal in order to help Donald Trump’s campaign given the former president’s opposition to it.
When asked if he is objecting to the upcoming proposal—the text of which is set to be released this week—to give him a campaign talking point when it comes to the border, Mr. Johnson rejected the premise.
“No ... that’s absurd,” said Mr. Johnson.
“We have a responsibility here to do our duty,” he continued. “Our duty is to do right by the American people to protect the people. The first and most important job [for] the federal government is protecting citizens. We’re not doing that under President [Joe] Biden.”
Mr. Johnson added that he has talked with President Trump about the border issue and that the former president “understands that we have a responsibility” to solve it.
President Trump has called for the GOP to reject the upcoming proposal.
“A border bill is not necessary to stop the millions of people, many from jails and mental institutions located all over the world, that are pouring into our country.
“It is an invasion the likes of which no country has ever had to endure. It is not sustainable or affordable, and will, under Crooked Joe Biden, only get worse,” President Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Jan. 29.
On Jan. 30, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates accused Mr. Johnson of contradicting himself when it comes to whether the president has the authority to shut down the border.
“Either Speaker Johnson’s interpretation of the law radically changed over the last four days, or Speaker Johnson is twisting himself into a pretzel to delay border security—including urgently needed Border Patrol hiring and investments in cutting-edge fentanyl detection technologies,” he said in a statement.
On Jan. 26, Mr. Johnson said: “President Biden falsely claimed yesterday he needs Congress to pass a new law to allow him to close the southern border.”
However, the speaker said three days later: “The new legal authority the president is seeking shouldn’t wait for 4,000 to 5,000 daily illegal crossings.”
Raj Shah, Mr. Johnson’s deputy communications director, fired back at Mr. Bates.
He continued, “What authorities did @POTUS cite to end Remain in Mexico, institute Catch & Release, abuse parole & asylum?
“Plenty.
“No one is buying this preposterous spin @POTUS has no power, which is why the public overwhelmingly disapproves.”
On Jan. 29, Mr. Johnson made clear where House Republicans will draw the line on any agreement dealing with the border: allowing illegal crossings.
“Any border ’shutdown' authority that allows even one illegal crossing is a non-starter. Thousands each day is outrageous. The number must be zero,” Mr. Johnson wrote on X on Jan. 29.
The deal reportedly would permit the president to close ports of entry if illegal crossings reach a certain threshold.
One of the negotiators, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), announced on Jan. 28 that a proposal was almost ready.
“This bill could be ready to be on the floor of the United States Senate next week,” he said on CNN, “but it won’t be if Republicans decide that they want to keep this issue unsettled for political purposes.”
The White House called on Congress to give the president the ability to protect the border.
“Until recently, Mr. Johnson advocated for HR2 because, in his view, presidents needed new legal authorities in order to secure the border,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wrote in a memo.
HR2, known as the Secure the Border Act, was passed by the GOP-controlled House last year. It would have required a border wall to be completed and for asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are considered, in addition to other border security measures.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said that the bill was dead on arrival in the Democrat-controlled upper chamber.
Mr. Johnson previously said any Senate bill that doesn’t include HR2 would be dead on arrival in the House.
“If Speaker Johnson continues to believe—as President [Joe] Biden and Republicans and Democrats in Congress do—that we have an imperative to act immediately on the border, he should give this administration the authority and funding we’re requesting to secure the border,” the memo states.
President Biden has said he'd sign into law a bipartisan border deal.
“What’s been negotiated would—if passed into law—be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” he said in a Jan. 26 statement.
“It would give me, as president, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”
The forthcoming deal comes amid a crisis at the southern border.
According to the agency, there have been 785,422 encounters at the southwest border by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the 2024 fiscal year, which started in October 2023.
According to CBP, there were almost 2.48 million encounters in the previous fiscal year—an increase of 96,725 from fiscal year 2022.
