Watch Jake Tapper’s interview with House Speaker Mike Johnson on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” at 4:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. CT).
House Speaker Mike Johnson is slated to answer questions from CNN’s Jake Tapper Wednesday afternoon as he leads a delegation of House Republicans on a visit to the US-Mexico border in Texas.
Johnson’s border trip comes as senators are trying to hammer out a bipartisan border agreement as part of a broader funding package for Ukraine, Israel aid and border security – and it remains unclear what the speaker will do if the Senate strikes a deal.
Johnson visited Eagle Pass, Texas, with roughly 60 House Republicans, as the GOP conference has made the border a focal point of its criticism of President Joe Biden and his administration. CNN reported Wednesday that House Republicans are forging ahead with steps to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border.
The House’s conservative hardliners want a border bill that mirrors the Republican House-passed HR2, which Senate Democrats say is a non-starter.
The Senate negotiations over the border have been ongoing for the past several weeks as Republicans have said they will only agree to the Biden administration’s request for additional money to Ukraine if a border package is also included.
The supplemental to provide additional money for the border, Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan is just one of the difficult funding challenges facing Congress in the new year, as a partial government shutdown is now less than a month away, too.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Wednesday that he wanted the Senate to reach a border deal first when asked whether Johnson should be more involved in the talks. “He’s been quite involved in the budget negotiations. On the border, since their position has been they’re not…
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