The Republican Party’s wholesale rejection of the bipartisan border security deal came at the expense of four months of work from one of their own.
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) was the GOP’s lead negotiator on the agreement, which Republicans abandoned within two days of the legislative text being released. Appropriators unveiled bill text on Sunday following months of negotiations between a bipartisan trio of members and the White House on a border security deal that would unlock assistance for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
Detractors on both sides of the aisle were quick to attack negotiators and the bill’s contents, and House GOP leadership vowed that the deal would die in their chamber. Former President Donald Trump, who has significant influence over the House Republican Conference, had also begun actively lobbying members to lawmakers the bill.
The bill has also caused a strain among the Senate Republican Conference, especially with hard-line conservatives. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) have gone so far as to call for Senate Republicans to oust and replace current GOP leadership over their embrace of the supplemental.
Over 25 GOP senators, more than half of the 49-member conference, announced their intent to oppose the bill. It was clear by Tuesday that the legislation would not have enough votes to pass the upper chamber, at which point Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) essentially declared the bill dead.
Lankford, who faced a barrage of attacks from his right flank in recent days over the bill, admitted on Tuesday to being somewhat taken aback by the degree of opposition.
“I’m legitimately surprised at where we are in this moment because as Republicans, we’ve done lots of press conferences at the border; we’ve had lots of conversations to say things have gotta change,” Lankford told CNN on Tuesday. “Senate Republicans demanded changes in the law in October and said we’re not going to move on other people’s national security until we’re dealing with our national security.
“Now we get to this moment, I’ve got so many colleagues that are backing away. I’m not saying it’s all based on the political reasons,” he added. “Some will have legitimate issues and say, ‘Hey, I don’t like this part of the bill’ or ‘I wish there was more in it.’ But some are backing away also based on the politics of the moment.”
Lankford had negotiated the agreement alongside Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), the latter of whom slammed Republicans on Tuesday for walking away from the agreement.
“I never expected that they would leave Sen. Lankford hanging out to dry as badly as they did,” Murphy told reporters. “I thought they would be able to find the votes to support a very tough, conservative compromise that he was able to win. So no, I never expected that they wouldn’t be able to deliver the minimum number of votes for this.”
Lankford’s Republican colleagues acknowledged to the Washington Examiner that he was taking incoming fire from within the party. That concerned a number of them.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) expressed worry that the party’s swift abandonment of Lankford’s deal could dissuade other members from taking up bipartisan efforts in the future.
“Jim Lankford is never getting these four months back,” Cramer told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. “I don’t think there’s another member of the Republican conference who could do this job with as much integrity, with as much intellect and experience [as Lankford]. He never wanted to lash out at the many people who unfairly lashed out at him.”
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) pushed back on the notion that Republicans may avoid engaging in other negotiations with the Biden administration before the November election.
“This is an unusually complicated area. Very few people understand it and understand it well. He happens to be one of them,” Thune said of Lankford and immigration policy. “I don’t think this is a precedent for future bills. I think this is an exceptional issue which has been tried many times before.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Others in the conference said they warned Lankford of the risks of going through with this bipartisan deal.
“I told him he was going to be like a goalie on a dark team weeks ago, and he knew this was a treacherous path,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said. “I have nothing but praise for Sen. Lankford. I think he’s done the best job he could possibly do under the circumstances. It’s just a very, very complex situation.”
David Sivak contributed to this report.
