In a last-minute desperation to avert a government shutdown, Democrats are pleading with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to work with them on a bipartisan border deal.
“The plan has not changed. The House is voting on the stopgap measure tonight to keep the government open,” Johnson spokesperson Raj Shah posted on X in response to the House Freedom Caucus who made a last-minute pitch to Johnson in hopes he would change plans for how to pass a stopgap government funding bill. They asked him to add an amendment vote on border and migration policy measures.
Johnson’s comments come as Republicans put immense pressure on the Speaker not to allow the Democrat Party to secure a win right before the 2024 election. However, he has vowed not to make a deal with the Left. Former President Trump and fellow conservatives have urged Johnson to reject a bipartisan package currently being drafted in the Senate, which would pair some border and migration policy changes with aid to Ukraine.
It would include the H.R. 2 Secure the Border Act that passed the House last year, which places restrictions on the asylum process and re-starting construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. However, adding a vote on the border would result in the House having to change the timeline and process for passing the stopgap.
In addition, several Democrats have put an extremely rare thought on the table: trading a border deal and, in return, protecting Johnson’s Speakership position.
House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), and border Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) said that if Johnson agrees to move forward with the Senate deal, they will ensure the Republican holds his title.
“Our job is not to save Johnson, but I think it would be a mighty pity if he did the right thing … for us not to support him,” Thompson said. “Up to this point, he’s been a fairly honest broker.”
“I do not think we should do a Border Deal, at all, unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions & Millions of people, many from parts unknown, into our once great, but soon to be great again, Country!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Also, I have no doubt that our wonderful Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, will only make a deal that is PERFECT ON THE BORDER.”
President Joe Biden said that he would be willing to make compromises on his border policies if that meant securing more funding for Ukraine.