House Democrats wasted no time this week rejecting Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) demands for strict new border security measures in return for Ukraine aid, posing the latest obstacle in Congress’s efforts to move another round of military assistance for the embattled U.S. ally.
Johnson said Wednesday House Republicans would oppose any new aid for Kyiv unless it was accompanied by major provisions of the GOP’s previously passed border bill, including the reinstallation of the “remain in Mexico” policy, begun under former President Trump, and hundreds of miles of new wall construction on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“That border fight is coming, and we’re going to die on that hill,” he told the conservative radio pundit Hugh Hewitt.
The remarks sparked an immediate backlash from House Democrats, who are supportive of new border security funding, but not the tough immigration restrictions favored by Republicans. They’re vowing to sink any Ukraine package that includes those provisions if Johnson brings it to the floor — a notable threat since Democratic votes would be needed to move the bill.
“That would be ridiculous. Unfortunately it would be to the detriment of Ukraine if they did that,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said.
The border wall, in particular, has been a topic of fierce debate between the parties in recent years, and Johnson’s proposal was quickly panned by Democrats, who warned that they’ll never back a Ukraine package that included anything close to the 900 miles of new construction featured in the Republicans border bill.
Read more at TheHill.com
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