Republicans have proposed ideas such as restoring the border wall and cracking down on asylum seekers. These policies are hopeless in the Senate, but if they manage to push through in the House, they will be able to claim victory for the message.
Highlighting how quickly one of the Republican Party’s biggest election disputes has turned into a sore spot of old tension, even those at the center of intraparty debates want to bet publicly against another digression. No… at least not yet.
“I can’t read minds. I don’t know my fortune,” he said. Tom McClintock The Justice Department’s immigration subcommittee (R-California), who chairs the immigration subcommittee, said in a brief interview that House Republicans could pass the bill if they can get it through the committee and onto the floor.
The struggle of Republicans to unite on border and immigration bills is nothing new — at this point, as both parties continue to struggle to reach any kind of agreement on comprehensive change, congressional But the lack of agreement has sparked a bitter feud, especially between two Texas lawmakers, and prompted questions from reporters about the chairman. Kevin McCarthy’s leadership.
It’s also easy to dismiss the long-standing Republican argument that Democrats are weak in border security, which the GOP will raise in 2024.
Publicly, the Republican Party has tried to put its message at the heart of the nascent majority. They made a series of trips to the U.S.-Mexico border to highlight its diverse security challenges and denounced the Biden administration as Democratic colleagues boycotted some of the local hearings.
This strategy has paid off to some extent. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz made headlines Wednesday when Greene asked if the DHS had operational control over the entire southern border.
Mr. Green continued with a short clip of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas telling congressmen that the DHS actually has operational control. Ortiz did not say whether he believed his secretary was lying.
After Wednesday’s hearing, DHS officials pointed to Mayorkas’ comments at another Senate hearing last year. He later said that based on the statutory definition of “operational control” that Greene presented at the hearing, “this country has never had an operational control.” (Democrats, and even some Republicans, have defended Mallorca, arguing that the impeachment call would lead to policy disagreements.)
But if Republicans publicly continue their rhetoric assault on the Biden administration, they still want to pursue a legislative review. An aide to leadership, who was granted anonymity to describe the non-public discussions, told POLITICO, “There are ongoing discussions with members about what the border package will look like … and there is leadership.” said.
And they seem to have learned a lesson from their first failure when they tried to vote swiftly on the border bill in the first few weeks of their term. Through two committees, the Commission and the Judiciary Commission, it is expected to introduce the next border-related bill.
Neither committee has officially scheduled a vote as negotiations continue behind the scenes. However, Green plans to roll out the border bill in the coming weeks, with a view to holding a panel vote in April. Jim Jordan The (Ohio Republican) said his goal is to start introducing legislation through the Justice Department by the end of March.
“There are a lot of bills to consider,” Jordan said in a brief interview. “We’re just trying to prepare.”
Jordan pointed to a bill by a Republican lawmaker. Andy Biggs (Arizona), tom tiffany
(with) and chip roy (Texas) as an option for a border security package that his commission is expected to consider soon. Critics fear Roy’s bill, as it is now known, would ban asylum claims even within Roy’s party, but earlier this year he was criticized by more centrist conference colleagues. and fueled his party’s legislative heartburn. That included lawmakers. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who is currently openly at odds with Roy over border and immigration policy.
Roy rejected his critics interpretation of Exile, but indicated he was willing to give leadership space, at least for now. (The Homeland Security Committee to which it was sent is not expected to vote on it.)
But even if the bill does pass Jordan’s panel, there’s no guarantee it will stand up to wider congressional scrutiny. and if all Democrats oppose any measure, the leadership can only afford to lose a few lawmakers on the floor.
If the committee can move forward with legislation, the leadership will have to decide whether to introduce the bills to the floor separately or as a single package. Some members have suggested that he combine everything that comes out of the Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security Committee into one bill. It’s a risky move that could test Washington’s favorite deal-solving tactic of trying to get everyone to agree by making the package too big to fail.
But as Republican aides have personally admitted, the math can be tricky. Until we drill down into the details, more border security at the rhetorical level of 30,000 feet unites Republicans in general. may strip votes it cannot afford to lose.
Roy, on the other hand, warned that he would not endorse DHS just by throwing money at it, warning that “either change the policy or nothing is done here.”
Another Republican aide described efforts to unite a conference on border policy as trying to gather “frogs in a bucket.” In further evidence of the challenge, no decision has been made on when the bill will be brought to the floor, or whether it will be in one package or multiple separate votes, according to leadership aides. .
Dan Bishop, RN.C., a member of the conservative House Liberty Committee and a member of the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, said both committees are expected to pass the border bill within weeks. He predicted there would be a vote and said he didn’t think there would be “friction”. Within the meeting, at least in terms of timing.
But Bishop added that he hopes leadership will introduce the bill, even if it may fail.
“I don’t care if it passes or not,” said Bishop. “I think we need to put a proper bill on the floor.”
