Congress decamped from Washington on Thursday without reaching an agreement on border security, signaling President Biden’s broader $106 billion national security spending bill will have to wait until the new year.
Senators were told to come back to town next week in preparation for a vote on a final deal, but the House adjourned for the start of what’s scheduled to be a three-week vacation, meaning even if senators do approve a bill, it can’t clear Congress until 2024.
The delay is a major blow to Mr. Biden, whose Ukraine policy depended on getting Capitol Hill to approve more than $60 billion in new assistance for the country’s war against Russian invaders. The White House says that without more money this month, U.S. support will dry up and Ukraine could begin to lose ground.
But Mr. Biden has been unwilling to meet GOP demands for an overhaul of border policy, and Republican lawmakers have made it clear that no bill to fund other countries’ wars overseas will pass until the U.S. takes steps to secure its own boundaries.
“There is no way we can fix our border security problems until the Democrats change their attitude. It’s not about time. It’s about attitude,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said senators will vote on some spending bill next week, though whether it’s a bipartisan compromise or Democrats’ partisan proposal will depend on the pace of negotiations.
“Members need to be here next week. We have to get this done,” Mr. Schumer said. “Our Republican colleagues who have said action on the border is so urgent should have no problem with continuing to work next week.”
He and others involved used words like “good progress,” and the White House is now fully invested in the talks, according to Republicans who complained that things could have been much further along had Mr. Biden stepped up earlier.
Presidential spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said negotiations are “going in the right direction,” and repeated the White House’s hope for a bill to clear this year.
“Here’s what the president believes: He believes we need to fix what’s happening with the broken immigration system,” she said. “That needs to get fixed and he’s willing to find a bipartisan compromise to get that done.”
She also insisted the White House has been “in constant communication” with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on the direction of talks.
That contradicts what senior Hispanic lawmakers said Wednesday.
Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, said the caucus was left out entirely. He said it would be equivalent to negotiating changes to the Voting Rights Act without including Black Democrats.
He is part of a cacophony of immigration rights and Hispanic voices who question why Mr. Biden is negotiating at all.
“The GOP’s cynical politics and lopsided demands shouldn’t dictate the confines of an immigration debate no matter how badly you need to overcome Republican opposition to defending Ukraine,” said Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America’s Voice.
Mr. Schumer tried to power a bill without GOP border changes through his chamber last week. Republicans led a successful filibuster, maintaining complete unity in blocking it.
Should a bill clear the Senate, House Speaker Mike Johnson could call his troops back for a vote. But that seems unlikely.
“The border is not just a crisis, it’s a catastrophe. The House took action to secure our border. It’s time for the Senate and the White House to do the same,” Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said on social media.
He was referring to a bill the House passed, with only Republican votes, to revive border wall construction, limit asylum claims, expand deportation authority and increase the capacity to detain illegal immigrants until they can be deported.
Democrats have said that bill is unacceptable.
Many Democrats are now saying Mr. Biden bungled the handling of the bill by linking border security in the first place.
The president’s October proposal called for $14 billion in new spending on processing the surging population of illegal immigrants, in a move Mr. Biden thought might entice some Republicans.
It backfired. Republicans said policy changes — not money — are needed to solve the problem. The GOP message has been boosted by the situation on the ground, where Homeland Security has seen record illegal entries this month.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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