The text of the border bill was finally released on Sunday night, and from the start it was vocally panned by Republicans. This doesn't merely include Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who continues to insist it is "dead on arrival," but even more establishment figures as well. Yesterday we covered how Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) shared he had "serious concerns." On Tuesday, he became a "no," as CNN's Manu Raju shared.
Cornyn would be in favor of the parts of the bill addressing aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
John Cornyn tells us he’s a NO on moving ahead with the bill tomorrow
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 6, 2024
John Cornyn, close ally of Mitch McConnell's and potential future candidate for leader, says he's a NO on proceeding to the bipartisan border deal and supplemental package. Says he has concerns with the parole language in bill.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 6, 2024
He'd favor dropping the border piece and moving…
Cornyn, a top ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), is not the only one who has come out against the disastrous bill. Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-WY) will also vote against it.
Senate Republicans held a meeting on Monday night, where it did not bode well for the bill. A Wednesday morning report from The Hill highlighted how they will block the bill.
The Tuesday morning edition of POLITICO's Playbook highlighted comments from an anonymous Democratic lawmaker who shared "I’m coming to the notion that everything is dead," adding "All of it." While McConnell shared a positive take about the bill once it was released on Sunday night, he's now telling members opposed to go ahead and vote against moving forward with it, as Playbook also highlighted:
Here’s MITCH McCONNELL speaking about the $188 billion national security supplemental on the Senate floor yesterday afternoon: “It’s now time for Congress to take action.”
And here’s the Senate minority leader speaking to fellow Republicans in a closed-door meeting last night, per Burgess Everett and Ursula Perano, amid a fierce revolt over the border security negotiations he had cultivated for months: “McConnell told Republicans that if they didn’t like the direction that the bill is going, they should vote against moving forward this week.”
The abrupt about-face from McConnell tells you everything you need to know about how the bill’s debut went yesterday, when a morning trickle of GOP opponents turned into a flood — 22, by the WSJ’s count — by the time the minority leader faced his conference in their 90-minute meeting and he bowed to political reality.
Another blow this morning: Sen. JOHN BARRASSO (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 GOP leader, is opposing the bill: “I cannot vote for this bill,” Barrasso tells Burgess in a statement. “Americans will turn to the upcoming election to end the border crisis.”
President Joe Biden, who continues to falsely insist that he needs such a bill to be able to enforce the law, is also blaming Republicans for the crisis, including and especially former and potentially future President Donald Trump. Biden and Trump are likely headed for a rematch of 2020 in November, with immigration currently being Biden's worst issue in the polls.
For all of the focus on Trump here, though, it's nevertheless reminding that there are serious issues with the bill, without the former president even getting involved.