Democrats and Republicans will not be able to strike a deal on US southern border policy changes this year, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday, following weeks of negotiations over tying tighter immigration restrictions to supplemental funding for Ukraine and Israel.
Republicans, Graham said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “feel that we’re being jammed. We’re not anywhere close to a deal. It’ll go into next year.”
Democrats and Republicans are urgently trying to reach an agreement on border policy changes before senators leave town for the holidays — with meetings on the Hill ongoing Sunday — but several congressional aides are skeptical a deal can be reached as sizeable differences remain.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly called on Congress to pass his national security supplemental request, which includes billions in funding for Ukraine, Israel, and border security, among other priorities. He’s warned that the funds are imperative for Ukraine, which the US has pledged to support in defending against Russia, and more broadly, for US national security.
But still, the package — introduced in October — remains stalled.
For weeks, negotiators on both sides of the aisles have wrestled over tying tighter immigration restrictions to supplemental funding for Ukraine and Israel. Republicans insist there needs to be a change on the US southern border, where migrant surges have strained federal resources, to move forward with funding for Ukraine.
“This is a catastrophe, and it’s a result of the Biden open border policies,” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We’re going to use this opportunity to change that.”
In a sign of the challenges negotiators face in trying to get an immigration deal that can pass the Senate this week, 15 GOP senators, including Graham, are…
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