Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on Tuesday that Congress should move ahead on the defense supplemental spending legislation — sans the bipartisan border deal.
Speaking at his weekly press conference from the Capitol, the top Senate Republican said that the border security agreement had no path to passing both chambers and urged Democrats to abandon the deal.
“It looks to me and most of our members, we have no real chance here to make a law,” McConnell said after meeting with the Senate GOP Conference.
Senate appropriators released the legislative text after 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 GOP 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 as 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 morning that the legislation would not have enough votes to pass the Senate.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who said he had worked closer with McConnell on the supplemental than any other legislation in their decadeslong working history, denounced his Republican colleague for backing away from their deal and vowed to move forward with a scheduled Wednesday cloture vote on the bill.
“Tomorrow, the American people will find out whether Senators want border security and to combat Putin’s expansionism — OR — whether they want to stand with Trump and Putin and their brand of perpetual chaos,” Schumer wrote on X moments after McConnell’s announcement.
