Republican Senators have had enough of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) after declaring the bipartisan border bill put forth by the Senate “unadulterated bullshit.”
In a Tuesday press conference, Sens. J.D. Vance, (R-Ohio), and Ted Cruz, (R-Texas) argued McConnell should have “walked away” from the border agreement given that it does virtually nothing to secure the border while simultaneous sending billions of dollars to Ukraine and Israel and expanding Joe Biden’s authority.
“We’re not committing ourselves to voting for this thing just because we entered the negotiation, and you hear this from some of our leadership – and hopefully they will stop – the idea that we committed to supporting whatever came out of this negotiation is pure, unadulterated bullshit,” Vance said.
?@JDVance1: “The idea that we committed to supporting whatever came out of this negotiation is pure, unadulterated bullshit. We supported a negotiation to bring common sense border security to this country. We did not agree to a fig leaf to send another $61 billion to Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/GDgslGCTYg
— Senator Vance Press Office (@SenVancePress) February 6, 2024
“We supported a negotiation to bring commonsense border security to this country. We did not agree to a border fig leaf to send another $61 billion to Ukraine,” he added.
Cruz, an outspoken critic of McConnell, called for the Kentucky GOP leader to step down over the disastrous $118 billion border proposal.
“I think it is,” Cruz said when asked if it’s necessary for McConnell to step down as Senate leader. “Everyone here also supported a leadership challenge to Mitch McConnell in November. I think a Republican leader should actually lead this conference and should advance the priorities of Republicans.”
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When later asked about Cruz’s remarks, McConnell responded, “I think we can all agree that Sen. Cruz is not a fan.”
But other Senators piled on McConnell.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) criticized McConnell for excluding most of the GOP conference from helping negotiate the terms of the bill.
“McConnell decided we’re not going to have something that forced a lawless administration to secure the border, and so this is where we are,” he said.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) likewise said McConnell’s strategy was “fatally flawed” when he “entered into this secret negotiation with [Democrat Senator Chuck] Schumer.”
“It normalizes thousands of people a day,” Johnson said of the bill. “It probably undermines the future president’s ability to secure the border by having things like a discretionary threshold.”
The real tragedy of this process is that what the American people want – a secure border – they’re not going to get.
Hiding negotiations from the American public produced a bill that codifies thousands of illegal migrants a day entering this country and hamstrings a future… pic.twitter.com/7SUNu4KLlC
— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) February 6, 2024
The House has already called the Senate’s border bill “dead on arrival”, signaling the bill has almost no chance of passing.
Joe Biden railed against Republican lawmakers for stalling the bill in the Senate, claiming they’re the ones responsible for not securing the border.
“I’m calling on Congress to pass this bill, get it to my desk immediately,” Biden said. “But if the bill fails…every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends.”
Watch the full press conference: