The House Freedom Caucus is pushing House Speaker Mike Johnson to include border security with teeth to the Senate’s stopgap bill ahead of an expected vote Thursday.
Members of the caucus have threatened to shutter the government unless Congress and the Biden administration act on plugging the U.S./Mexico border with the House GOP’s Secure the Border Act.
Rep. Bob Good, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, told reporters outside Mr. Johnson’s office that the speaker was considering crafting an amendment to include border security in the stopgap bill.
Mr. Good, Virginia Republican, said adding the Secure the Border bill, minus an e-verify provision, to the stopgap would fly with House Democrats after 14 Democratic lawmakers joined all Republicans on Wednesday in condemning President Biden’s handling of the illegal migrant flood.
The Senate’s majority Democrats and even Republicans have said the legislation is a nonstarter amid negotiations to add tougher border security policies to Mr. Biden’s $110 billion funding request for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
“The Senate will be forced to consider: Are they willing to fund the government and secure the border, or are they refusing to fund the government because they don’t want to secure the border?,” Mr. Good said. “We’d like to have the Senate join us in securing the border.”
SEE ALSO: Trump to House Speaker Johnson: If border pact doesn’t have ‘everything needed,’ reject it
Raj Shah, a spokesman for Mr. Johnson, threw cold water on the conservatives’ quest for a short-term extension with border security measures.
“The plan has not changed,” Mr. Shah said. “The House is voting on the stopgap measure tonight to keep the government open.”
Lawmakers shot down a stopgap last year that included the Secure the Border Act and deep spending cuts.
The clean stopgap, with no policy riders, would provide lawmakers extra time to finish work on spending bills until March 1 and March 8 and continue funding levels set by Democrats. It’s expected to pass the Senate, then head to the House.
The arch-conservatives’ plan could slow the legislation’s progress in the lower chamber, should Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, acquiesce to their demands.
Congress has until midnight Friday to fund the government.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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