By Sahil Kapur, Kate Santaliz, Frank Thorp V and Julie Tsirkin -
NBC News
Republican senators made clear Tuesday that they will reject the border security bill their party negotiated with Democrats, representing a surprising reversal less than 48 hours after it was made public by Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, and blessed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
McConnell, who faced opposition from members of the Republican Party in the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, and former President Donald Trump, admitted that
he has no chance of being approved
.
Immigrant families cross into the United States from Mexico to request asylum on May 8, 2023, in El Paso.John Moore / Getty Images file
“We had a very serious discussion about whether or not this measure could become law.
The Speaker of the House has made it pretty clear that it will not become law,” McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.
“So I want to congratulate Senator Lankford for his remarkable work negotiating with Democrats and getting the support of the Border Council.
But it seems to me, and to most of our members, that we have no real chance of getting it into law.”
Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, was more direct: “The project is very dead.”
Within minutes of the bill's release on Sunday, Republican senators
began speaking out against it
.
On Tuesday, opposition reached a fever pitch, even within McConnell's team.
At that point, it became clear that they would not reach the 60 votes needed to prevent a delaying maneuver when the bill went to the full Senate on Wednesday.
That means aid to Ukraine and Israel will also be blocked for now.
“I believe the motion to proceed with the bill will fail,” said Senate Minority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, referring to the procedural vote scheduled for Wednesday to begin consideration. of the measure.
Asked if there is any hope left for the bill, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, the lead Democratic negotiator, responded: “No.”
Murphy said he was outraged that Republicans had done a 180-degree turn in their support for the bill.
“We drafted a very effective bill.
We reached a compromise that was really going to solve the problem.
It turns out that Republicans
don't want to fix the problem
.
“They want to leave the issue of immigration open as a political agenda item that they can exploit,” Murphy told reporters.
“It's also discouraging because there used to be a difference between the Senate Republican caucus and the House Republican caucus.
Now there is no difference.
They are just as dysfunctional.
“They are just as tied to President Trump.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declined to say Tuesday whether he would separate aid provisions for Ukraine and Israel included in the measure if the immigration deal fails completely.
“We believe this is so important for the security of the United States on the border, for the security of Ukraine and Israel, that we are going to move forward,” Schumer said.
“This is not the last time Republicans will hear from us.
Let's continue with this.
Tomorrow we will vote.
We will continue moving forward.
Pay attention".
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said he opposes the border bill but called on Congress to vote separately on aid to those countries.
“Congress must provide
vital security assistance to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan,
” he wrote on social network X. “At this critical moment, we cannot abandon these allies and partners or allow our support to become mired in political differences. on immigration policy.