House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) criticized the roughly $95 billion foreign aid package making its way through the Democrat-controlled Senate.
A statement he released on Monday warned against a final product that lacks “real” border security provisions after the Senate rejected a bipartisan immigration deal tacked onto the national security supplemental legislation last week.
My statement on Senate’s failure to address the most critical aspect of national security supplemental legislation: pic.twitter.com/ENjJ0WzKsK
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) February 13, 2024
Although Johnson said the Senate “did the right thing” by rejecting the border provisions he deemed to be “insufficient,” the speaker said senators “should have gone back to the drawing board” to change the bill and address the “ongoing catastrophe.”
Johnson said that “in the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters. America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”
The foreign aid package, which allocates funds to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and other foreign priorities — including humanitarian aid — has cleared a few procedural hurdles and could get a final vote later this week as some Republicans try to open up the process and add border provisions.
While the White House has voiced support for the legislation to move forward, former President Donald Trump, who could face President Joe Biden in a 2020 rematch in the election this year, has urged senators to reject foreign aid unless approved as a loan.
Johnson argued the GOP-led House took the lead in trying to tackle the border crisis by passing H.R. 2 last year. The Senate refused to take that border security bill up for consideration with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) dismissing what he described as “partisan right-wing demands.”
One of the Senate negotiators, Chris Murphy (D-CT), fired back at Johnson with a post to X that said the “speaker said he wouldn’t pass [Ukraine] funding without a border deal and we got a deal and then he killed the deal because he said we didn’t need a deal and now he says he won’t pass our [Ukraine] funding bill bc it doesn’t include a border deal.” He added, with spaces, “honestly” and “wtf.”
Murphy didn’t cut a border security deal, he cut an immigration deal
Speaker didn’t kill Murphy immigration bill, Senate did
House GOP was clear, HR2 or equivalent was required
Murphy himself said “the border never closes”
Senate drops border altogether
Wtf indeed https://t.co/WumwcluXvK
— Raj Shah (@RajShahDC) February 13, 2024
Johnson’s spokesman Raj Shah responded with a space-laden post that said “Murphy didn’t cut a border security deal, he cut an immigration deal … Speaker didn’t kill Murphy immigration bill, Senate did … House GOP was clear, HR2 or equivalent was required … Murphy himself said ‘the border never closes’ … Senate drops border altogether … Wtf indeed.”
