Lawmakers look for backup plan
Moderates push new bills on border, foreign aid
WASHINGTON – With House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., showing no indication he plans to bring up new legislation addressing the southern border or foreign aid soon, lawmakers are taking matters into their own hands in hopes of rallying their colleagues behind a Plan B.
For example, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and Don Bacon, RNeb., are slated to release a bill providing aid to U.S. allies, including Ukraine and Israel.
The legislation would also include a variant of former President Donald Trump’s signature “remain in Mexico” policy, which required those seeking humanitarian asylum to stay in Mexico while they waited for hearings with U.S. immigration judges.
The moderate Republicans worked with a pair of House Democrats, but Fitzpatrick declined to tell reporters whom they collaborated with Thursday.
The bill is an alternative to the Senate’s now-dead $118 billion deal that would have enacted sweeping changes to the nation’s border and immigration policies, along with sending resources to U.S. allies. That deal quickly fell apart after House Republican leaders – along with most GOP lawmakers – declared the bill dead on arrival because they argued the border provisions were not strict enough.
Fitzpatrick and Bacon’s bill largely follows the spirit of the Senate deal – that is, tying border changes to foreign aid – but excludes certain provisions. The proposal, for instance, does not include humanitarian assistance to Gaza or economic aid to Ukraine.
Those omissions could immediately alienate progressive Democrats, who have strongly pushed for humanitarian assistance in any Israel aid package. It also risks turning off many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have called for further American assistance to Ukraine. But Fitzpatrick told reporters on Thursday he will “commit to an open amendment process” that will allow leaders to propose their own changes to the legislation.
On the border and immigration front, the New Democrat Coalition, a group of almost 100 centrist Democrats, unveiled their own framework on Thursday to address the crisis on the southern border. Included in the proposal is an increase in funding for the Department of Homeland Security; permanent residence for “Dreamers,” or undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children; asylum reform; and other potential plans.
The chair of the moderate coalition, Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., said at a news conference that the group has been in communication with “colleagues on both sides of the aisle” about the framework and that they are “open to a conversation about how to get all of this done.”
“We are the raging centrists,” said Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., a member of the group. “This is a framework, and it’s reaching out a hand to offer to our Republican friends to come over and work with us and reach bipartisan solutions.”
But when asked about Fitzpatrick and Bacon’s separate plan, Kuster said it appears to only have “narrow fixes.” She questioned whether it would garner significant Democratic support, underscoring the longtime difficulties Congress has faced as it tries to pass any sort of border and immigration reform.
“It’s a math problem, right? I don’t know that they will get the votes that they need,” Kuster said.
The two efforts from the House’s most moderate lawmakers points to the particular political standstill Congress finds itself in. Members are attempting to address the crisis on the southern border while simultaneously supporting U.S. allies, both issues described by Democrats and Republicans alike as urgent matters.
After the collapse of the Senate’s emergency spending deal, senators passed stand-alone legislation for foreign aid and national security without the border provisions. Johnson and House Republicans railed against the move immediately.
But Johnson has said he sees no need to quickly consider the Senate’s latest bill, telling reporters on Tuesday he was focused on averting a government shutdown. Part of the federal government’s funding expires on March 1.
He also called for new legislation to address the southern border, despite already rejecting the initial deal senators worked on for months to marry foreign aid and border security goals.