In a stinging bipartisan rebuke, the Senate voted against a sweeping border policy package for the second time on Thursday, with the legislation losing even more support from both Republican and Democratic senators compared to the first failed vote in March.
The renewed border security push was led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who brought the bill to the floor again after bipartisan negotiations originally produced the deal last winter. But this time, even some of the original Republican and Democratic negotiators flipped to oppose the measure.
Senators like Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona independent who helped craft the border proposal, and James Lankford of Oklahoma, the lead Republican negotiator, joined the growing ranks of no votes. They were joined by other defectors including moderate Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, as well as Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Laphonza Butler of California.
In all, 61 senators opposed the package, up from 57 no votes when Schumer first forced a vote in March that was seen as a political gambit ahead of the midterm elections. Only 39 senators supported the deal this week, compared to 43 previously.
The bipartisan border policy deal would have overhauled asylum laws, heightened standards for individuals seeking refuge, and aimed to speed up processing of claims that have faced interminable backlogs. It also included controversial provisions to give presidents unilateral authority to shut down the southern border if daily illegal crossings exceeded certain levels.
Those closure powers were among the most condemned aspects of the deal by immigrant rights groups. But they were supported by many Republicans as well as some Democrats representing border states like Sinema. And they are expected to be a central part of the coming executive actions that President Biden will pursue in lieu of congressional action.
The White House has already telegraphed that Biden plans to start using his executive powers in June to take new measures addressing problems at the southern border, which have become a glaring political liability for Democrats heading into the 2024 presidential campaign. Administration officials say Biden will likely mirror key elements of the failed Senate deal, including potentially invoking closure authority along the U.S.-Mexico border under certain criteria related to migrant surges.
In a clear sign the bipartisan talks have collapsed, Sinema joined other Democrats in ripping the Republican stonewalling on the Senate floor. She accused her former GOP negotiating partners of never negotiating “in good faith” and simply using the border issue to score political points rather than address real solutions.
“Senate Republicans proved unwilling to compromise even an inch to make progress on border security,” Sinema declared. “Inaction is a choice, and my Republican colleagues chose that path today.”
Republicans fired back that it was cynical election-year politics by Schumer and Democrats that prevented substantive progress. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell led the GOP criticism, deriding Schumer’s move to bring the border bill back up again as “a campaign ploy” rather than a serious legislative effort.
“The solution here is a president who’s willing to exercise the sweeping authorities he already has,” McConnell said. “If Senate Democrats wanted to start fixing the crisis, they would be candidly urging the president to do exactly that.”
With Congress deadlocked, all signs point to Biden preparing to act alone through executive authority in the weeks ahead. White House officials have been blunt that new border policies and actions are coming imminently, likely by the end of June.
Schumer, meanwhile, lambasted Republicans for punting on what he called a legitimate bipartisan solution to a crisis that members of both parties have expressed deep concerns about.
“To my Republican colleagues, you wanted this border bill,” an exasperated Schumer said ahead of Thursday’s failed vote. “It’s a bipartisan product of months of negotiations, and it’s time to show you’re serious about solving the problem.”