The No. 3 Republican in the Senate came out against the bipartisan border deal on Tuesday, putting the bill one step closer to a collapse.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, said the border compromise, the product of four months of negotiations between the Senate and White House, would not stem the record influx of migrants, blaming Democrats for refusing to accept stricter measures.
“President Biden and Sen. Schumer will never accept the significant changes required for American safety and border security. Joe Biden will never enforce any new law and refuses to use the tools he already has today to end this crisis,” Barrasso said in a statement. “I cannot vote for this bill. Americans will turn to the upcoming election to end the border crisis.”
Barrasso joins a chorus of Republican opposition to the legislation, part of a larger national security supplemental funding request that includes funding for Ukraine. Almost two dozen Republican senators have come out against the proposal since Sunday night, when the bill text was released.
He applauded Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), the chief Republican negotiator in border talks, but said the legislation “doesn’t force the Biden administration to end its abuse of current law” and “leaves in place a number of the Democrat-created incentives that are fueling the crisis.”
Lankford, for his part, has defended the bill as an end to “catch and release” and highlights the tighter asylum restrictions and new shutdown powers given to the president. But conservatives have railed against the proposal, specifically the shutdown authority, since it would not become mandatory until 5,000 border crossings a day.
Barrasso’s opposition is significant. He is one of the most conservative members of the Senate, but he is also the highest-ranking Senate Republican to oppose the bill to date.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) supports the deal, but he is among the only Republicans mounting a public defense. His entire leadership team is either undecided or opposed.
The deal took another hit shortly after Barrasso’s statement when Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), an adviser to McConnell, announced he would vote “no.”
McConnell wanted a majority of his conference to support the supplemental before deciding to move forward, but that benchmark has all but slipped away, with even centrist Republicans skeptical of the border provisions.
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“I have repeatedly said it would be a mistake to send this bill to the House without the support of a majority of Republican senators, and if it didn’t have a majority, I would not support a futile procedural exercise,” Tillis said in a statement.
The conference is likely to block the first procedural vote on the bill on Wednesday to give members more time to review the details. Here’s the latest list of which senators support and oppose advancing the $118 billion legislation.
