Ukraine-for-border negotiations hit snag
With Trump loudly opposed, many GOP senators balk at deal
The fate of a bipartisan border deal Senate Republicans demanded to fund Ukraine aid appeared dimmer this week after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., acknowledged to Republicans former President Donald Trump's opposition to the deal has complicated its future.
Republicans demanded stringent border policy changes to pass $60 billion in Ukraine aid requested by the White House last year, and a small group of Senate negotiators were closing in on a deal last week when Trump slammed the negotiations in a social media post that said he would accept only a “PERFECT” deal.
In a closed-door meeting Wednesday afternoon, McConnell, who is pushing for Ukraine funding and reluctantly agreed to tie the foreign aid to border security, acknowledged the politics are tough for passing a border deal, according to two people familiar with his comments, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.
McConnell's doubts were aired after a significant number of Republican senators, backed up by right-wing media, have increasingly vocalized their opposition to a border security deal before details have been released and even as they have raised alarm bells about the influx of migrants at the border.
Negotiations are focused on making it harder for migrants to seek asylum, changes to the president's use of parole for migrants, and a mechanism to effectively close the border on days when crossings were particularly high. The overall aid package includes military assistance for Israel, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific nations as well as humanitarian aid and U.S. border funds.
Negotiations are ongoing and close to a final product, and several McConnell allies said Thursday the leader was not giving up on the talks.
“What he was talking about was what he saw as sort of the political challenges of moving forward,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. “He wasn't waving the white flag on border security at all.”
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., the lead GOP negotiator, said Thursday he thinks McConnell was just laying out the tough political reality for Republicans given Trump's opposition but was not “undermining” negotiations at all.
“There are some people that oppose the bill, based on the presidential politics issue, rather than the crisis that's actually occurring at the border,” Lankford said.
But leadership has started discussing dropping the border security portion of the aid package and moving forward with a supplemental funding bill that would include aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
“We've got to drive hard to get this done, and if we can't get there we'll got to Plan B,” said Sen. John Thune, the No. 2-ranking Republican. “For now at least, there are still attempts being made to reach a conclusion.”
The deal's negotiators said the next day would be crucial for the future of the talks.
“I think the Republican conference is going to make a decision in the next 24 hours as to whether they actually want to get something done or whether they want to leave the border a mess for political reasons,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the lead Democratic negotiator. “If Republicans blow this up, Vladimir Putin will win the war and Europe will be at risk.”