Biden to Republicans: Grow a Spine

biden to republicans: grow a spine

President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in North Las Vegas, Nev., Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Congressional Republicans are so afraid of Donald Trump that they are willing to risk border security, the fate of U.S. ally Ukraine, and the United States’ reputation abroad to appease the GOP presidential front-runner, President Joe Biden charged Tuesday, imploring lawmakers to pass a bipartisan border security and foreign aid bill.

“All indications are this bill won’t even move forward to the Senate floor,” Biden said at the White House as it became clear that a painstakingly crafted package to deal with the border crisis and send assistance to Ukraine and the Middle East was seriously imperiled.

“Why? A simple reason. Donald Trump. Because Trump thinks it’s bad for him, politically. He’d rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it,” Biden said.

“It’s time for Republicans in the Congress to show a little courage, to show a little spine … to make it clear to the American people that they work for them,” Biden added, pleading for passage of a bill Republicans had warmed to until Trump campaigned for its defeat.

The border situation has been an ongoing vulnerability for Biden, who faces what is shaping up as another close race with Trump this fall. With the economy strong and inflation stabilizing, Republicans have shifted their attacks on Biden to the border problem, an issue that could be especially damaging to Biden in battleground states like Arizona.

But the president turned the tables Tuesday, saying he would take the issue as his own on the campaign trail and use it against Trump and congressional Republicans.

“Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” Biden said.

The package, crafted by a bipartisan team on Capitol Hill, includes 1,500 additional border agents to physically secure the border, 4,300 asylum officers and 100 asylum judges. The latter two would reduce the current five-seven year wait for asylum claims to be adjudicated to a more reasonable six months, Biden said.

While the bill does not have some Democratic priorities – such as a path to citizenship for certain immigrants in the country illegally, including people illegally brought here as small children – it would expedite work permits for qualifying immigrants. That detail has been sought by governors, mayors and businesspeople looking for workers.

Further, the legislation would give Biden the authority to temporarily shut down the border on days it is overwhelmed.

“If the bill were law today, it would require it to be shut down right now,” Biden said, using language the GOP has directed at the president in their demands.

The measure also includes aid to Ukraine, to Israel and for humanitarian needs for Palestinians suffering in the war in Gaza. Biden warned that denying that assistance would send a grim message to the rest of the world about America’s leadership.

“Supporting this bill is standing up to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” who invaded Ukraine two years ago, Biden said. “Opposing this bill is playing into his hands.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, declared the bipartisan Senate bill “dead on arrival.” He’s acknowledged having conversations with Trump but said the former president did not intimidate him into killing the bill.

Once the GOP-run House signaled it would not even consider the package, Senate Republicans started to jump ship, making it unclear whether the upper chamber would even consider the package their own members negotiated on a bipartisan basis.

“Doing nothing is not an option,” Biden said. “Republicans have to decide: Who do they serve? Donald Trump or the American people? Are they here to solve problems or just weaponize those problems for political purposes? I know my answer. I serve the American people.”

The Senate needs 60 votes to advance the border package. Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat, has indicated that a vote will be Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Democrat, suggested a “repackage” that would include foreign aid while taking the border elements out if it.

“Most of our members feel that we’re not going to be able to make a law here” on border security, McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Biden refused to endorse that idea, saying he still wanted a package with both Ukraine and Mideast assistance as well as border security.

Copyright 2024 U.S. News & World Report

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