House Speaker Johnson is trying to appease conservatives with a weak border bill that has no chance of passing the Senate, because they are outraged he didn’t include any border provisions in the foreign aid package.
The new legislation would require a procedural rule, but the House Rules Committee went into recess tonight after they failed to pass one:
Also: The House Rules Committee has gone in recess subject to the call of the chair because they can't pass a rule to allow for consideration of the border bill.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 18, 2024
Here’s more on the border bill drama from The Hill:
House GOP leaders on Wednesday introduced a new border security bill designed to appease conservatives who are up in arms that Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) foreign aid package excluded tougher measures to battle migration.
Johnson announced Wednesday morning that he was plowing ahead with sending aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan despite outspoken opposition from hard-line Republicans, many of whom were incensed that his plan excluded border security. For months, the Speaker had said that any assistance for Kyiv must be paired with legislation to address the situation at the southern border.
But in a change to his initial plan, the Speaker said he would move a separate border security bill as the House considered the foreign aid measures, a move that was largely viewed as a way to pacify the conservative anger. He said the border security bill would move under a separate procedural rule from the Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan measures.
The gambit, however, was met with sharp — and immediate — criticism from hard-line Republicans, who dismissed the new border bill as weak and part of a bad-faith effort by Johnson to satisfy the conservative concerns.
“That is a joke,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, told reporters of the border bill. “That’s pretend. That’s theater. That’s noise.”
The House is expected to vote on the border bill in the coming days as part of Johnson’s plan to send aid to embattled U.S. allies. But even if it passes the House it will face a dead end in the Senate, where many of the provisions are non-starters among Democrats.
Johnson, nonetheless, is pitching the border bill as an “aggressive” measure that is instrumental to the broader conversation about the national security supplemental.
Chip Roy called the bill a watered down cover vote and he wants nothing to do with it:
To be clear, the Republican Speaker of the House knows this – and will seek Democrat support for the rule… to send money overseas… while walking away from months of promises to put Americans first to secure the border. This is a total & complete failure. https://t.co/p84OPdYUc1
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) April 17, 2024
I was really hoping Speaker Johnson would be different, but he’s just like all the other House speakers we’ve had. A weak in the knees pushover who isn’t willing to fight for anything.