Biden slams Trump on blowing up border deal: 'He'd rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it'

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden lambasted hardline Republicans on Tuesday for blocking legislation that would give him the authority to quickly expel migrants who enter the country illegally and fund military operations in Israel and Ukraine.

With the $118 billion bill flaming out on Capitol Hill, Biden used the bully pulpit to scold his political opponents for using the border crisis as a cudgel against him in the 2024 presidential election instead of working with Democrats to pass the most conservative immigration package in decades.

"Now, all indications are this bill won't even move forward to the Senate floor. Why? A simple reason. Donald Trump. Because Donald Trump thinks it's bad for him politically," Biden said. "He'd rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it."

Even before the bill text was released, the legislation began dying on the vine after former President Donald Trump came out forcefully against it.

Republican senators began softening their support for the bill, which a bipartisan group of lawmakers had been working on with leadership support months. Trump is the expected Republican presidential nominee, and he is viewed by many conservatives as the de facto head of the party.

By Tuesday afternoon, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed the border deal was dead, and said he supports breaking out Ukraine and Israel funding into a separate bill.

"It looks to me, and to most of our members, as if we have no real chance here to make a (border) law," McConnell said after a meeting with senate Republicans.

The reversal among the Senate GOP is a stunning turnaround from just a few months ago, when they demanded that Democrats attach a border security solution to President Joe Biden's request for $106 billion in additional aid to Ukraine, Israel and other foreign security priorities.

Senate Republicans say they will vote to block a border security bill Wednesday that a bipartisan group of lawmakers spent months working on – and which they demanded in exchange for additional aid to Ukraine. The U.S. sent the last of the congressionally approved assistance last year, and Biden warned on Tuesday of far-reaching consequences to America and its allies if deal is not reached.

Less than two days after the bill that funded Biden's national security priorities came out, around half of the Republicans in the Senate publicly said they are against it.

Most argue it doesn't go far enough to stop illegal migration into the United States, some say it doesn't make sense to advance legislation that is "dead on arrival" in the House, and some would prefer to leave it as an election-year issue.

The third-ranking Republican in leadership, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., came out against the bill Tuesday morning, saying "Americans will turn to the upcoming election to end the border crisis."

The second-ranking Republican, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. wouldn't commit Monday to voting for it, saying he's "still reviewing the text," and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly did not actively lobby for or against the bill during a closed-door meeting last night – instead telling members they should vote against a procedural vote to move the package forward on Wednesday.

Speaking with reporters after the meeting Monday night, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., the lead GOP negotiator on the bill, said he anticipates that the Wednesday vote does not pass and that Senate Republicans will vote together to stop consideration for the moment. At least 60 votes are needed in the Senate to consider the legislation.

"I would anticipate that people are saying 'hey, I need a lot more time to go through this,'" Lankford said. Even Lankford himself would not commit to voting to move forward the legislation that he crafted.

On Monday night, many Republican senators said they wanted more time to consider possible amendments to the legislation, while others said the package is close to dead. Behind the scenes, concerns about the 2024 presidential election or opposition to Ukraine funding added additional complications to negotiations.

"We need a separate Border and Immigration Bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape, or form!" Trump said in a Monday social media post.

Trump called the bill a "highly sophisticated trap for Republicans to assume the blame" for problems at the border "just in time for our most important EVER Election" in another post. "Don’t fall for it!!!" he wrote.

Biden said Tuesday that Republicans must decide whether they serve the American people or his predecessor, as he accused them of letting "petty, partisan politics" derail the compromise legislation.

If the bill fails this week, Biden said he'd would campaign on its defeat.

"Every day, between now and November, the American people are going to know that only reason the border is not secure is Trump and his MAGA Republican friends," Biden pledged. "It's time for Republicans in the Congress to show a little courage, show a little spine."

Biden, who wore a Ukraine tie and pin to demonstrate his ongoing support for the nation, said the clock is "ticking" to send Ukraine additional weapons so it can defend itself against Russia's onslaught.

"We can't walk away now. That's what Putin's betting on," Biden said. "Supporting this bill is standing up to Putin. Opposing this bill is playing into his hands."

Sweeping changes to immigration

Lankford worked with Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., over months to craft a border security bill that would implement sweeping changes to the way migrants are apprehended and processed at the border.

The proposal, released Sunday evening, would vastly expand detention at the border and speed up humanitarian asylum programs. It would also make it harder for people to qualify for asylum and fill out the border wall.

Perhaps the most controversial element of the package is a new three-year policy to essentially shut down processing of asylum applications from people who crossed illegally if the number of expulsions and apprehensions of migrants reaches an average of 5,000 illegal crossings per day for a week. Based on the number of migrants currently crossing the southern border, that threshold would likely trigger that new mechanism immediately.

However, several Republican senators have said it would instead allow up to 5,000 migrants per day. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who is referring to the bill as the "Border Never Closes Act" and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said it "does NOTHING to actually secure the border."

It is included in an emergency spending bill that would appropriate more than $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, and $10 billion humanitarian aid – a longstanding request of President Joe Biden's that has the support of both McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The Senate will vote on cloture on the bill on Wednesday, a procedural vote that would advance the bill and make it available for a majority vote of the full Senate. A higher threshold – 60 senators – is necessary to pass the procedural hurdle.

White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre declined at a Tuesday afternoon briefing to discuss alternatives to the deal that is on the table. She denied that Biden, who hosted congressional leaders from both parties at the White House last month, was at fault for the existing bill's collapse.

"There's a bipartisan deal...right there in front of them. And they need to move it forward," Jean-Pierre said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden blasts Trump as Senate GOP will block border security bill