Senate Republicans fracture as Donald Trump influences fragile border, Ukraine negotiations
Senate Republicans fracture as Donald Trump influences fragile border, Ukraine negotiations.
Just as it seemed the Senate's months-long negotiations over border policy and Ukraine aid were entering their final stages, the package may be in jeopardy.
That's because Republican senators have started acknowledging any border deal's impact on former President Donald Trump's reelection bid as he remains the 2024 GOP frontrunner.
Senate Republicans were thrown into confusion this week after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Trump's presence as the likely Republican nominee has changed the political environment as the former president seeks to make immigration a campaign focal point.
McConnell's warning is the first acknowledgement that Trump's potential opposition to a border deal could jeopardize a rare moment for Congress to address immigration.
But it’s not clear whether the deal is destined for the gallows. Some conservative senators say they sensed McConnell planned to abandon a possible deal, but others say negotiations still have a path forward, despite the politics.
“I hope they’re turning away from it. I do think we’re seeing an acknowledgement that the politics of this deal has shifted and this deal is proving very unpopular. That’s significant,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Thursday.
The demise of a bipartisan border deal would deny President Joe Biden the chance to claim a victory in addressing the crisis at the southern border. It's a political reality that has prompted Trump to lobby Republicans to reject a potential deal that has taken shape over four months.
McConnell’s remarks – including noting that the GOP senators wouldn’t “want to do anything to undermine” Trump – could also have been interpreted as deference to the former president, with whom he has repeatedly clashed with since 2020.
But Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., the lead GOP negotiator on the border package, said McConnell was “very clear” he's not backing away from the plan, saying Thursday, “We’re still working.”
“I think (McConnell) was saying out loud what a lot of people are thinking on this: When it started in October, we were not in a presidential election year,” Lankford said. “Now we are in the heat of a presidential primary and presidential election year. It’s a huge campaign issue, and it gets sucked into all this conversation.”
And over a GOP lunch Thursday afternoon, McConnell clarified to Senate Republicans “he is fully supportive of the work James Lankford has been doing,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told reporters. “He’s not gonna let political considerations of any campaign stand in the way of his support.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also dismissed the notion of Republicans deferring to Trump, calling it “parallel universe s---” and that McConnell’s comments have been heavily mischaracterized.
“It is immoral for me to think you’d look the other way because you think this is the linchpin for President Trump to win,” he added.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who is “very much attuned to political realities,” said it is premature to pronounce the talks as dead and a possible deal could still emerge.
The mood from the other side of the aisle is much more somber. The lead Democratic negotiator on the talks, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told reporters the fate of any potential deal will be determined with the next “24 hours.”
“I know there’s a group of Republicans led by Donald Trump that doesn’t want to do anything on the border and wants there to be chaos on the border because it benefits them politically, but I also know there are a lot of Republicans in the Senate that want to solve the problem at the border,” Murphy said.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. – who on Wednesday forcefully questioned the effectiveness of the border proposal – said Thursday that he did not get the impression McConnell was ready to walk away from the plan.
Lead GOP negotiator insists Ukraine aid must be tied to border, immigration policy changes
The bipartisan discussions on migrant policy began four months ago as Senate Republicans sought to tie Ukraine aid to the southern border. The move was viewed as a risky political gambit, considering the bipartisan support Ukraine has among Senate leadership and immigration debates being notoriously thorny.
But now, as the border and immigration talks are at risk, continued U.S. assistance to Ukraine hangs in the balance, even as both McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have expressed strong support for the war-torn nation.
The closed-door meeting on Wednesday prompted discussion of lawmakers potentially unlinking the two issues. Nevertheless, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it is “absolutely false” that negotiators are considering decoupling migrant policy and Ukraine aid.
“Yesterday was a conversation about issues that are very, very fluid and very, very important. We had a robust discussion on it, and it was a very civil discussion,” he said.
And to dispel any questions about GOP interest in decoupling the two issues, Lankford emphasized to reporters there remains no viable path for Congress to pass Ukraine aid without changes in border policy.
‘It’s just not a Ukrainian issue’: Protesters weigh in as lawmakers hesitate
As some lawmakers in Washington push for the U.S. to continue providing aid to support Ukraine, advocates are also pressing Congress to take action.
Robert Harvey of Arlington, Va., a protester and organizer with Ukraine Rally DC, has been standing outside the White House or U.S. Capitol building every day since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his attack on Ukraine in 2022.
He told USA TODAY Thursday he cares about the war because “it is the correct and virtuous thing” to support others in a time of need. He also cited Russia's “awful human rights record,” and said he thinks the country is likely to attack the United States or its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization if they succeed in conquering Ukraine.
“We would like Congress to approve a continued package of assistance,” Harvey said. “If they do not wish to agree to the current proposal, they should make a new one as soon as possible.”
He was joined outside the entrance to the Senate Thursday morning by Sasha Kordiiaka of Ashburn, Va., a Ukrainian immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for a few years. Her entire family remains in Ukraine – many of whom are doctors and feel they must stay and help.
“I have a 103-year-old grandpa, who survived genocides from Russia” as far back as the 1930s, she said, and who fought for the Soviet Union in World War II. “And now he experiences Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
She added that Americans should continue to care about the war because if Russia succeeds in Ukraine, Western countries could be called on to send troops to stop Russia invading other nations: “It’s not just a Ukrainian issue.”