Potential failure of border bill creates a political opening for Biden
CNN
By Michael Williams, CNN
Washington (CNN) — The impending failure of the bipartisan border deal reached by senators this weekend appears set to hand President Joe Biden an issue that he can wield against former President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers on the campaign trail.
Biden on Tuesday promised to blame Republicans in Congress directly for the apparent failure of the border bill, saying the country will hear about how those Republicans caved to Trump’s attempts to scuttle the bill after months of intense bipartisan negotiations.
The bill would have included some of the most significant changes in immigration policy seen in decades, along with aid for Ukraine and Israel. But any hope for the deal seemed to be dashed after Trump came out against it, apparently so he could campaign on Biden’s perceived weakness on the border.
Speaking from the White House on Tuesday, Biden vowed to turn Trump’s strategy around on him.
“If the bill fails,” Biden said, “I want to be absolutely clear about something: the American people are going to know why.”
The apparent failure of the bill could give Biden a political upper hand, allowing him the opportunity to say that a deal on the border was brokered and awaiting his signature until Trump torpedoed it, effectively punting what has been his most challenging domestic issue to his likely 2024 rival.
“Every day between now and November the American people are going to know the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends. It’s time for Republicans in Congress to show a little courage, to show a little spine, to make clear to the American people that you work for them, not for anyone else.”
But the failure of the bill would still leave unresolved an intractable political issue which has vexed presidents and Congresses of both parties for decades – one that has led to what leaders near the border have called a true humanitarian crisis. It would also have a real impact on battlefields from Ukraine to Gaza, Biden warned.
Biden said that those who oppose the border bill are “denying aid” to Palestinian people who are “really suffering.”
“This bipartisan agreement also provides Israel with what it needs to protect its people and defend himself against Hamas terrorists, and it will provide the necessary lifesaving humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people,” the president said. “By opposing this bill, they are denying aid to the people who are really suffering and desperately need help.”
The bill’s failure could also exasperate the burgeoning standoff between Biden’s administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. The latter has taken extraordinary steps to address what he has described as a void in federal law enforcement on the border by giving local law enforcement the ability to arrest migrants, and placing razor wire on the border to deter unlawful crossings. Abbott has defied a Supreme Court order to remove the wire.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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