The collapse of a bipartisan border agreement, painstakingly negotiated by senators over the weekend, seems poised to provide President Joe Biden with a political weapon to use against former President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers on the campaign trail.
On Tuesday, Biden pledged to hold Republicans in Congress accountable for the deal’s apparent failure. He stated that the nation would be informed about how these Republicans succumbed to Trump’s efforts to derail the bill, following months of intense bipartisan negotiations.
The Senate Republicans effectively scuttled the bill in a critical vote on Wednesday, with a 49-50 outcome. The bill proposed some of the most substantial changes in immigration policy witnessed in decades, along with aid for Ukraine and Israel. However, Trump’s opposition to the deal, seemingly to capitalize on Biden’s perceived border weakness during his campaign, dashed any hopes for its success.
Addressing the nation from the White House on Tuesday, Biden pledged to reverse Trump’s strategy. He stated, “If the bill fails, I want to be absolutely clear about something: the American people are going to know why.”
The bill’s failure could potentially give Biden a political advantage, enabling him to assert that a border deal was in place until Trump sabotaged it, effectively passing his most challenging domestic issue to his probable 2024 competitor.
However, the bill’s failure still leaves an enduring political issue unresolved, one that has troubled presidents and Congresses of both parties for decades, leading to what border leaders have termed a genuine humanitarian crisis.
In response to the failed package, Senate leaders plan to proceed with a procedural vote that includes emergency aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, but excludes the border provisions that Republicans demanded before rejecting them.
The bill’s failure could also exacerbate the growing standoff between Biden’s administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. Abbott has taken unprecedented measures to address what he describes as a void in federal law enforcement on the border, including empowering local law enforcement to arrest migrants and placing razor wire on the border to deter illegal crossings.
The bill included provisions that would require the Department of Homeland Security to bar migrants, except unaccompanied minors, from crossing the border between ports of entry if illegal crossings reached a certain threshold.
Despite the initial optimism and endorsement from the reliably conservative Border Patrol union, the deal unraveled after Trump, who remains a GOP kingmaker, signaled his opposition.
Biden’s campaign immediately capitalized on Trump’s push to sink the border bill, sending supporters an email listing the instances when Trump called for immigration reform.
This story will be updated with additional developments.