House Republicans are trying to restart momentum on a border security package that faced early opposition in the current Congress by beginning to move a slightly revamped package through the committee process on Wednesday, but early reactions indicate many of the same sticking points and hurdles remain.
The conference, which has lambasted the Biden administration over border policy, had hoped to pass a narrow border security bill within the first two weeks of their new majority but blowback from moderates that forced lawmakers back to the negotiating table revealed that delivering on this campaign promise would be much harder than first imagined.
Two Texas lawmakers, Reps. Tony Gonzales and Chip Roy, have staked out opposing positions on how their party should approach border security, particularly when it comes to the issue of asylum – at times leading to issues between them.
One Republican lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak freely, described the dynamics between the two Texans as “tense” and “personal.”
Just last month, Gonzales led a whipping effort on the House floor to sink an amendment from Roy on a different topic because he thought Roy’s amendment, which ultimately failed, “was not a good amendment.” Roy took to the House floor the day his amendment failed to claim the efforts to sink it were done “for petty, personal reasons.”
While border package negotiations were still ongoing, Gonzales previously told CNN, “You’re never going to out-border me,” while Roy previously said, “I’m not really worried about what [Gonzales] has to say.”
Ahead of Wednesday’s markup in the House Judiciary Committee however, both downplayed tensions in conversations with CNN and even said they spoke on Tuesday.
“Everyone thinks there is beef between me and Chip,” Gonzales told CNN. “There isn’t. We have…
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