GOP’s Border Ultimatum: ‘We’ll Shut The Government Down’ Unless Stricter Controls Are Funded

Topline Republican lawmakers issued a harsh ultimatum in their fight for stricter border controls Wednesday, declaring they were prepared to shut the government down if Democrats don’t agree to their demands ahead of the Jan. 19 deadline for passing a new fiscal year 2024 budget. U.

S. House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks while standing with Republican members of Congress, . .

. [+] Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay) Key Facts “Shut the border down, or we’ll shut the government down,” multiple Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla. ), Andy Biggs (Ariz.

) and Chip Roy (Texas) tweeted Wednesday as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La. ) led more than 60 House Republicans in a visit to the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas. The comments come as negotiators in the Senate have failed to come to an agreement on new border security measures tied to additional aid for Ukraine—and signal the GOP’s plans to leverage another high-stakes legislative issue, the fiscal year 2024 budget, to force their border demands.

Johnson also blasted the White House in a press conference from Eagle Pass, reiterating that the GOP-led House would not vote in favor of President Joe Biden’s request for $50 billion in additional aid for Ukraine unless Senate Democrats and the Biden administration agree to approve legislation the House passed in May that would reimpose a series of Trump-era border restrictions, including restarting border wall construction and barring asylum seekers from entering the country. Crucial Quote “If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, it better begin by defending America’s national security — it begins right there on our southern border,” Johnson said. Chief Critic “It’s time for House Republicans to get serious, do their job, and deliver for the American people.

It shouldn’t be hard to fund the government—it’s their basic responsibility,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted in response to Republicans’ threats to shut down the government. Key Background The House passed short-term legislation in November to continue funding the government and avert a shutdown, but the funding is set to expire on Jan. 19.

Republicans, after taking control of the House by a narrow majority in the 2022 midterm, have made border security a top priority in the 118th Congress, as the expiration of Trump-era pandemic controls have coincided with a surge in border crossings, reaching an all-time monthly high in December. The House passed its border bill in May just days before the expiration of the Title 42 emergency health declaration that allowed border officials to turn away migrants before they had an opportunity to seek asylum in an effort officially to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The bill died in the Democratic-controlled Senate, however, and Biden threatened to veto it.

Tangent Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N. Y. ) told reporters Wednesday senators had yet to reach a deal on the border as part of the Ukraine aid package, but said they had made “progress” over Congress’ winter recess and were “closer than we have been.

” Schumer also criticized House Republicans for leaving Washington for Eagle Pass amid the negotiations, telling reporters “the way to get something done is work . . .

I hope the speaker will realize that if he wants to solve the problem on the border. ” Senate Democrats have also expressed the need for additional border security—and Biden included a request for $12 billion in border funding in his joint Ukraine-Israel aid proposal—but asylum restrictions and humanitarian parole policies have reportedly emerged as partisan sticking points. .