House GOP leaders are scrambling to quell an internal rebellion over their border security bill, according to multiple GOP sources, putting the timing of the legislation’s passage in limbo.
Multiple Republicans leaving a meeting in House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office said that GOP leadership is working on language to resolve issues over the border bill, and said they’ll be able to move ahead with a floor vote on the rule to set floor debate for the bill later Wednesday. Earlier, leadership recessed the floor as they worked to find a path forward.
Final passage is scheduled for Thursday – a vote strategically timed to coincide with the expiration of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allowed certain migrants to be turned away at the border.
Republican leaders worked for months to negotiate the border and immigration package, a signature piece of legislation and an issue they ran on in the midterms. But they are still running into last-minute pockets of opposition, though leadership remains confident they’ll ultimately be able to round up enough votes for the bill.
One issue has been over language that asks the secretary of homeland security to issue a report determining whether Mexican cartels are a “foreign terrorist organization.” Some Republicans are pushing leadership to take it out of the bill, concerned it could create a new “credible fear” claim for asylum seekers.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, told CNN that he knows of at least five Republicans who are “hard no” votes if the provision remains.
“It’s stupid, it’s counterproductive,” Crenshaw said of the foreign terrorist organization language. “That’s what people are rebelling against.”
Late Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Andrew Clyde said he is now a “yes” on the bill after saying his concerns over “foreign terrorist…
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