As Senate negotiators started coming to terms on a compromise package that would overhaul border and immigration policies, while simultaneously assisting Ukraine, Donald Trump decided it was time to intervene — in the hopes of killing the agreement.
Early last week, the former president urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to help scuttle the emerging bipartisan deal. Two days later, Trump took aim at the compromise — the details of which he knew nothing about — by way of his social media platform.
This week, HuffPost reported that the GOP’s likely 2024 nominee has privately lobbied Republican senators to scuttle the deal — not on the merits, but because successful governing on the issue might help President Joe Biden’s re-election prospects.
Predictably, a variety of congressional Republicans responded to the former president’s efforts by saying they would follow his orders, regardless of the consequences. But as NBC News reported, not everyone in the party agreed.
Tempers flared Thursday as Republicans battled among themselves over whether to accept or reject a deal for tougher immigration laws, with some pushing back on colleagues who want to bow to former President Donald Trump’s wishes and kill it.
Sen. Thom Tillis, for example, said policymaking should matter.
“I didn’t come here to have the president as a boss or a candidate as a boss. I came here to pass good, solid policy,” the North Carolina Republican said. “It is immoral for me to think you looked the other way because you think this is the linchpin for President Trump to win.”
Sen. Mitt Romney went even further. “The border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and Congress people that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem — because he wants to blame Biden for it — is really appalling,” the Utah Republican told reporters.
Romney added, “The American people are suffering as a result of what’s…
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