BREAKING: McConnell now admitting he’s lost the fight on tying Ukraine to the border

by The Right Scoop

It’s being reported that Mitch McConnell is now admitting, in a manner of speaking, that he’s lost the fight to keep Ukraine money tied to their bill to deal with the border.

Here’s the reporting from Jake Sherman with Punchbowl:

Senate Minority @LeaderMcConnell cast fresh doubt on linking Ukraine aid to a border security bill, acknowledging that the politics have been complicated by former President Donald Trump’s campaign.

McConnell has been the most staunch advocate for aid to Ukraine and has pushed the Senate to give quick approval to a not-yet-released border bill being negotiated by Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.).

MCCONNELL told a closed meeting of Senate Republicans Wed that the politics of the border has flipped for Rs and cast doubt on linking Ukraine and border.

“When we started this, the border united us and Ukraine divided us.”

“The politics on this have changed,” McConnell then told his GOP colleagues.

This is ALL about Trump.

McConnell referred to Trump as “the nominee” and noted the former president wants to run his 2024 campaign centered on immigration. And the GOP leader said, “We don’t want to do anything to undermine him.”

“We’re in a quandary,” McConnell added.

 
Also today, Senate Republicans criticized McConnell for keeping them in the dark on the deal, saying “The problem is our leader”:

A group of Republican senators ripped into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at a Wednesday briefing for keeping them in the dark on a critical border security and Ukraine aid bill.

McConnell, R-Ky., tapped Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford to lead negotiations with Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy, Conn., and Independent Sen. Krysten Sinema, Arizona, on a border-foreign aid package that would provide funding for domestic border security objectives and the war in Ukraine.

But, to the chagrin of several GOP senators, no one has seen the text of the deal and only bullet points are being circulated.

‘We don’t have text,’ Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who organized the briefing, told reporters. ‘We should all have the opportunity to engage.’

Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson blamed McConnell for keeping members of his conference in the dark.

‘The problem is our leader, leader McConnell,’ he said, adding the Kentuckian ‘doesn’t consult with the conference.’

‘He took away most of our leverage,’ Johnson said. ‘The lack of negotiating skills is profound from leadership.’

A big sticking point for Republicans in the ongoing negotiations is Biden’s use of humanitarian parole, an authority the government can use to award a non-citizen entry into the U.S. when the individual does not or cannot get a visa.

Under Biden, over a million immigrants have been granted parole.

‘The Biden administration is abusing parole, which is supposed to be done on a case-by-case basis,’ Johnson lamented.

The parole issue in the never-before-seen-bill ‘is going to be the deciding factor’ in whether the deal will gain support among Republicans, Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said.

The chances that the bill passes in the House is zero percent, Sen. Ted Cruz said, adding house Republicans have not been included in the negotiations at all.

‘This bill represents senate Republican leadership waging war on house Republican leadership,’ the Texan said. ‘It’s not going to become law.’

Scott also questioned why members of the lower chamber had not been included in the ongoing conversations.

Sen. Mike Lee, meanwhile, repeatedly demanded that the senate have at minimum three weeks to review the bill’s text once it is finally released.

Lankford, for his part, told Politico Tuesday that he is hoping to release the text of the bill before the end of this week.

It sounds like the deal is dead but it is interesting to see how in the dark McConnell kept most of his own party.


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