Border, Ukraine key in talks with GOPers
Repubs dig in on migrants, hold up aid for war
President Biden was set to meet Wednesday with the top four congressional leaders from both parties as he pushes for an elusive deal to unlock billions in aid for embattled Ukraine and secure the southern border.
House Speaker Mike Johnson will attend the White House meeting along with other top leaders. But he and his far rightwing Republican caucus have vowed to block any deal that does not rubber stamp their sweeping proposals for an extensive crackdown on illegal immigration.
“Before we even talk about Ukraine, I’m going to tell the president … border, border, border,” Johnson said after a closeddoors meeting with Republican lawmakers.
Many House GOP lawmakers also oppose more money to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion that is nearing its second anniversary.
Senate negotiators from both parties say they have been making slow but steady progress to a $110 billion deal that would include some, but not all, of the Republican border proposals.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is a strong supporter of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and has pushed for a deal that would also ease the crisis at the border with billions in new funding.
But it’s not clear how or if they can break the logjam in the House, where Johnson’s narrow majority could presumably block any deal.
The talks are complicated by the political calendar, with many House Republicans opposed to any deal that could hand a victory to Biden at the start of a presidential election year.
Former President Trump, who is the overwhelming frontrunner in the GOP primary race, strongly opposes aid to Ukraine and has demanded harsh new measures against undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers.
The proposed package would also include aid to Israel as it continues to battle the militant group Hamas in the Palestinian Gaza Strip after an Oct. 7 terror attack.
The talks are not directly related to congressional efforts to avert a partial government shutdown as soon as the end of the week.
Johnson has agreed to work with Democrats to pass a fresh stopgap spending measure in a move that should clear the way for a deal. But conservatives, who hoped for deep spending cuts, have ripped the concessions as a form of “surrender” to big-spending liberals.
The White House has demanded more aid to Ukraine for months, suggesting that the dwindling supplies of weaponry and ammunition could hand victory to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.
Democrats say abandoning Ukraine would send a signal of American weakness and effectively give a green light to dictators and authoritarian governments to sow instability.
Congressional Republicans are deeply split on the issue between traditional conservatives like McConnell who favor a muscular American foreign policy and MAGA firebrands who say the U.S. should not fund overseas wars under any circumstances.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Tuesday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this week.
Sullivan said he remained confident the Biden administration would forge an agreement on Ukraine aid in the coming weeks.
“I continue to believe and express confidence that we will … after a lot of twists and turns ultimately get there,” Sullivan said.
Although the White House’s top priority is unlocking the stalled aid to Ukraine, Biden has also warmed to the idea of linking it to border security funding.