Senate Republicans who were involved in negotiating the Ukraine/Israel funding bill that happens to include totally ridiculous provisions that pretend to address border security are pretending to be shocked that House Republicans are not going to take up the bill.
There is lots of commentary out there regarding the bill, and not having read it I won’t add to it other than to say that what I have seen in the analyses shows that it is craptastic.
Kilmeade: Senator Lee says he needs 3 weeks to read it
Lankford: It’s interesting that he said he is already opposed to it, he needs three weeks to be able to read it but he’s already opposed to it. pic.twitter.com/7pWKo6PIR9
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 5, 2024
I actually don’t find Mike Lee’s opposition to the bill inconsistent with his desire to read it. Even the few snippets I have read indicate that it is likely a disaster.
But I reserve judgment. Perhaps there is some magic formula in there that can explain why Secretary Mayorkas is essentially given plenary power to grant asylum and why the most liberal circuit court in the country is given exclusive jurisdiction over the bill.
In a way, though, it doesn’t matter except as an excuse for Democrats to posture and pretend to care about border security politically.
It didn’t take long for the House Republicans to dismiss the bill out of hand, and no doubt the MSM and the Democrats will use this fact to smear them (and Trump) as playing politics with a serious issue. An issue that until 10 minutes ago the Democrats claimed WASN’T an issue because the border was secure, but you get the idea.
My joint statement with @SteveScalise, @GOPMajorityWhip, and @RepStefanik regarding the Senate’s immigration bill:
House Republicans oppose the Senate immigration bill because it fails in every policy area needed to secure our border and would actually incentivize more illegal…
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) February 5, 2024
All of this is kabuki theater, though. And I know this without question because of a simple fact: if the Senate wanted the House to consider the bill they would at the very least have kept them informed of what was in it, and if they wanted it to have a chance to pass they would have engaged in backroom negotiations.
That the Senate negotiators sprang this on everybody as a surprise makes it obvious that none of them wanted a genuine solution or even cared a bit about anything other than political posturing.
It’s not like immigration isn’t at the top of the list of political concerns for many Americans, and it’s not like there is a consensus about what should be done about it. Anybody who claims that a serious bill can be negotiated in secret with a few people in a back room, especially in the midst of an impeachment of the Secretary of Homeland Security over his dereliction of duty, is a liar.
Secretary Mayorkas has completely failed to uphold his oath of office and protect our homeland.
His refusal to comply with immigration laws passed by Congress and his blatant breach of the public trust are inexcusable.
Impeachment is the final remedy. pic.twitter.com/n6eTcsyd1T
— House Homeland GOP (@HomelandGOP) February 5, 2024
Yes, a liar. It is inconceivable that they don’t know better. It would take somebody being in a vegetative state to not know better.
This simple fact means that, at the very least, the Republicans who were involved in negotiating the bill are little more than useful idiots for the Democrats and the big businesses who want massive illegal immigration and are collaborating with them for some political reason.
The Democrats are going to wrap the failure of this bill to pass around the neck of Republicans, claiming they are indifferent to the border. That is the only reason they are discussing the issue today. Look at the about face on the border they have taken:
Al Sharpton on MSNBC: “You’re getting migrants beating up policemen in the streets of New York… We’re looking every day at the invasion of migrants”
In 2018, this would’ve been feverishly denounced on MSNBC as the kind of rhetoric that leads straight to Concentration Camps pic.twitter.com/G2mx2xu08i
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 5, 2024
Whatever the case, one thing they were not doing was trying to address the crisis at the border. If they were they would have at least consulted with House leaders, whom they would need to pass a law.
Is Senator Lankford in a vegetative state? It appears not.
Hence he is choosing to collaborate with the Democrats for some reason. There really is no other possibility that I can see.