By Sahil Kapur and Frank Thorp V -
NBC News
Tempers flared Thursday as Republicans fought among themselves over whether to accept a deal to toughen immigration laws, with some lawmakers putting pressure on colleagues who want to bow to former President Donald Trump's wishes for no deal.
"The border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he tells Republican senators and congressmen that he
doesn't want us to solve the border problem
, because he wants to blame Biden for it, is really appalling," he told reporters. Mitt Romney, Republican senator from Utah.
"The American people are suffering because of what is happening at the border," he said.
"And someone running for president should try to solve the problem, instead of saying, 'Forget about that problem! Don't solve it! Let me take credit for solving it later.'"
Former President Donald Trump, in Nashua, New Hampshire, on January 23, 2024. Matt Rourke / AP
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., urged his colleagues not to make it all political at the behest of another candidate.
"I'm not here to have the president or a candidate as my boss. I'm here to pass good, solid policy," Tillis said.
"For me it is immoral to think that you look the other way because you believe that this is essential for President Trump to win."
His comments came a day after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, outlined in a private GOP meeting the political difficulties facing the nascent agreement on immigration and foreign aid. including Trump's opposition to the deal on his path to the Republican presidential nomination.
Some conservatives believe that preventing a deal
will cause voters to blame the president, Joe Biden
, for a chaotic situation at the border, even though he has supported the negotiations.
The Trump campaign declined to comment for this article and has lashed out at the deal on its social media platform, posting that Republicans should not "make a Border Deal, at all, unless we get EVERYTHING."
While senators said McConnell made clear Thursday that he was not withdrawing his support for the pact, some insist the party should reject it because it does not go far enough in ensuring border security.
The agreement has not yet been finalized, as senators are working on financing issues.
"I want a negotiation that really secures the border, in which there are no holes, in which they cannot drive a semi-trailer through the spaces they have," Republican Senator Ron Johnson told the press.
"What Senate leaders have not been able to describe is how [the deal] would work."
Johnson and a group of Republican senators held a news conference Wednesday criticizing the deal, with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who faces re-election this fall, calling it "totally ineffective in solving the problem", as it would only partially reduce the number of asylum seekers.
Cruz
called the agreement a "fig leaf
that claims to achieve border security but actually fails to do so."
"Resign from the damn Senate"
Cruz's likely Democratic opponent this fall, Rep. Colin Allred, praised the "bipartisan deal in the making," saying in a statement that "Texans desperately need us to take action" on the border crisis.
"But once again, Ted Cruz is not interested in finding solutions, only in partisan politics. Our border communities are overwhelmed, and cannot afford six more years of Ted Cruz and his cynical games."
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the top Democratic negotiator, commented that "it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that Donald Trump doesn't want to fix the border" because he and "many Republicans" are used to seeing it as "a political issue
, not
a political one
." a real policy problem."
"They are making a decision in the next 24 or 48 hours about whether they want to solve the problem at the border or if they just want to keep it alive as a political issue," he stressed.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, facing re-election in a red state seen as crucial for the majority in 2024, had a one-word response when asked to respond to GOP pressure to sink the agreement: "Trash."
"I think it's s---," Tester told NBC News.
"We have to reach that agreement to secure the border. If they want to keep it as a campaign issue, I think they have to resign from the damn Senate."
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, another Democrat in a red state facing re-election, said: "They have to put politics aside and do this. The public wants it. They say they want it. We want it ".
The fate of the deal hangs over Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona Democrat-turned-independent, who is
a lead negotiator
and has not decided whether she will run for re-election this fall.
Polls place her behind the likely Democratic and Republican candidates in a hypothetical three-way race.
Securing a deal could give a campaign message to voters in a border state as it seeks to cultivate an image of building bridges between the parties.
Questioned about Trump's attempts to kill the deal, Sinema responded: "I don't really have a comment on that. We're at a point where it's almost done. And when the text comes out, the senators will be able to review it and make a decision. Do you want secure the border? They have to decide."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat, adjourned the session Thursday afternoon, promising that Democrats remain committed to the deal and that "negotiators will
work all weekend
in an effort to get it done." .
Although Democrats control the Senate 51-49, it would take 60 votes to break a safe filibuster.
And even then, there are no guarantees it can pass in a Republican-controlled House.
"There are a good number of people for whom border security is too important an issue to give up on," said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota.
"I've always rejected the notion that perfect has to be the norm."
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.,
lashed out at the immigration negotiations
, saying many Republicans are "completely in the dark" about the details.
He added that he spoke with Trump recently, but they did not discuss border politics or Ukraine.
"He talks about his choice," Scott stated.