Senate GOP seek border deal with Democrats that Johnson can stomach in the House

Senate Republicans say the risk of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) tanking the upper chamber’s bipartisan defense supplemental spending bill depends entirely on how much Democrats are willing to bend on the border security portion.

A bipartisan working group of senators has spent weeks negotiating a border security deal, which would be added to a defense spending bill that includes Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan assistance. Negotiators on both sides have acknowledged that the border measure is critical to passing the legislation through both chambers.

BIDEN OFFICIALLY A TARGET OF HOUSE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY AFTER VOTE

Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) have been leading the negotiations, which have centered largely on changes to federal asylum policy and how the Biden administration uses the humanitarian parole authority.

Concerns have mounted as negotiators began making progress in recent days that the entire effort could be pointless if Johnson ends up tanking the bill.

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

“If Democrats don’t come far enough to satisfy the House, then this is a futility,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told the Washington Examiner on Thursday, placing the onus on Democrats rather than House Republicans to make political concessions.

“Speaker Johnson, I’m told, is being briefed on this, but obviously, as we’ve seen recently, just because the speaker supports something doesn’t mean the House will go along,” he continued. “This is going to take a while, if there is a deal, to socialize it. But there’s no reason for us to rush to pass something that’s dead on arrival in the House.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), meanwhile, is urging both chambers to pass the supplemental funding request as quickly as possible, saying on the Senate floor on Thursday that now is “our last, best chance to get this legislation done.” Schumer has been in a rush to move the legislation because of how vulnerable it could be in the House.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), one of the GOP negotiators on the deal, told reporters that he would not support a final bill that did not have the backing of at least 24 Republican colleagues.

“When it comes from people like me, I think that [the White House] should understand that’s a pretty serious statement,” the centrist Republican said. “I’ve demonstrated I can take the hits on my side for something I care about. I care about this. It has no hope in the House unless we demonstrate strong support from Republicans here.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), a former House member who has close relationships with House GOP leadership, told the Washington Examiner that he had spoken to Johnson on Wednesday. Mullin said Johnson’s team was “pretty convinced” that if Republicans were to get behind the eventual bill in the Senate, members would follow suit in the House.

“We’ve been very open about negotiating with him on the border and [getting the House] what they need,” Mullin said.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that given its broad scope, he expects the overall bill to spark divisions among multiple factions of the House and Senate.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“Keep in mind that the border is not the only issue. There are gonna be a lot of people that are going to have something to say about Israel. I think my Democratic colleagues are very split on Israel and putting conditions,” Kennedy said. “There are gonna be some folks that wanna talk about the humanitarian aid to Ukraine. So there are other issues. Now, if we want to, this can all be worked out in time, but nobody’s gonna do this on a pinky promise or an oral agreement. It’s got to be reduced to writing.”

“We’re more unified than they are at the moment, and that’s an unusual experience,” he added of Democrats. “Usually, my Democratic colleagues in the Senate kind of march in lockstep, and we’re very divided.”