The Senate will vote next week on a $110 billion national security package sought by President Biden that includes new border security provisions and aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, after months of negotiations on the contentious issue.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Thursday that the text of the long-awaited border legislation will be released as early as Friday but “no later than Sunday.”
But the legislation, despite its bipartisanship, is not expected to become law — House Republicans say it’s dead on arrival. Former President Donald Trump also is seeking to tank it over accusations from conservatives that it fails to go far enough to combat the surge of illegal border crossings.
Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, teed up a procedural vote on the package for “no later than Wednesday.”
The timing will likely offer a split-screen moment on Capitol Hill, as House Republicans could also vote next week to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border.
“Addressing these challenges is not easy, but we cannot simply shirk from our responsibilities just because a task is difficult,” Mr. Schumer said.
The bill will require 60 votes to break the Senate’s filibuster threshold, meaning at least nine Republicans will need to support it. The Democratic-led chamber is expected to have the votes before facing its all but certain doom in the GOP-controlled House.
The failure to release text after months of talks has spurred growing opposition from Senate Republicans. Leaked details include a provision of mandatory expulsion authorities once daily crossings reach 5,000 over a weekly span, a threshold that conservatives say is far too high.
Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the leading Republican negotiator, said rumors about the bill are to blame for dissent among his colleagues, though he declined to specify the inaccuracies or release text.
Democrats accuse Republicans of playing election-year politics with a policy issue that polls show is top of mind for voters.
“I feel like the guy standing in the middle of a field in a thunderstorm holding up a metal stick,” Mr. Lankford said. “This is a really intense thing. It’s been divisive.”
The 5,000 illegal crossings threshold would not mean that those who come before the trigger would avoid deportation, Mr. Lankford said.
“The process is really set up to be able to process more people faster, make decisions faster, deport faster, but when the system gets overwhelmed, everyone gets deported until they get caught up,” he said.
A group of conservative senators led by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the top Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, told the chamber’s leaders that they want the bill to run through the normal committee process and have the ability to make amendments.
“Rushing a bill to the Senate floor without allowing adequate time for the committees of jurisdiction to deliberate on the legislation and conduct hearings with individuals possessing relevant expertise would be a significant oversight,” they wrote in a letter to Mr. Schumer and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell.
• Alex Miller contributed to this report.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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