Attempt to help Trump? Speaker Johnson explains his rejection of border deal
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson (Photo: Getty Images)
Resistance to the agreement on strengthening security at the U.S.-Mexico border is not an attempt to assist Donald Trump in his election campaign, according to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson.
Responding to questions about whether the speaker's resistance to the agreement currently being worked on in the Senate is an attempt to help former President Trump in his presidential campaign, Johnson replied, "No. That's absurd. We have a responsibility here to do our duty."
"Our duty is to do right by the American people, to protect the people. The first and most important job of the federal government is protecting citizens. We're not doing that under President Biden," Johnson stated.
The agency reported that the House Republicans insist that any additional aid to Ukraine should only be approved if immigration issues at the U.S.-Mexico border are addressed.
Meanwhile, Trump urged Republicans to "only make a deal that is perfect on the border" and reject any Senate proposals, "unless we get everything needed to shut down the invasion of millions and millions of people."
Democrats, on the other hand, accuse Trump and Republicans of deliberately rejecting any deal to be able to campaign on this issue in 2024 and prevent Biden from winning in future presidential elections.
Republican dissatisfaction
One of the main provisions of the agreement, according to rumors, concerns the executive branch's authority to stop migration if the number of illegal border crossings exceeds 5,000 per day. Republicans believe that the threshold should be much lower.
"Why would you tolerate 5,000 a day before you sought to suddenly enforce the law? That would be surrender. The goal should be zero illegal crossings a day, not 5,000. And all the president's authority should be utilized at zero."
Financial aid for Ukraine and the U.S.-Mexico border agreement
In October 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden submitted a $106 billion bill to Congress for assistance to Israel, Ukraine, and allies in the Asia-Pacific region. Of this amount, $61.3 billion was proposed for Ukraine and $14.3 billion for Israel.
However, in December, the Senate blocked consideration of this bill due to Republican demands to include a stricter package of measures to protect the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
Recently, the Senate and Congress agreed on the agreement's text on the U.S.-Mexico border. However, Johnson called the deal "dead on arrival." Thus, he suggested that the Republican majority in the lower house of Congress does not plan to vote for the document.
