Staff Reports
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s proposal to urge conservatives to support his foreign aid package with a separate border security bill faced resistance from skeptical conservatives. The proposal is expected to be presented again on the House floor on Saturday.
The End the Border Catastrophe Act was created by Mr. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, as a way to reach out to conservative hardliners who wanted him to include border security provisions in Ukraine aid. The proposal was intended to be a last-minute addition to the $95 billion foreign aid package, and was meant to be voted on separately after pressure to include border security policy. However, conservative Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Chip Roy of Texas, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky blocked the bill from making it through the House Rules Committee this week.
The bill, which is similar to the House GOP’s Secure the Border Act passed last year, was controversially stopped from moving forward. Passing the measure as a separate bill ensures that it will likely be disregarded by Senate Democrats and President Biden. Critics, like Mr. Massie, voiced their opposition, stating that the bill was unnecessary as a similar bill had already been passed. The hardliners argued that Mr. Johnson should have applied more pressure and leverage on Democrats to ensure border security.
Now, the bill will be reconsidered on Saturday under suspension, requiring at least two-thirds of the House to pass it. It faces unlikely prospects due to opposition from both Republican and Democratic members.
