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The House GOP’s push to pass border security reform through the divided 118th Congress could end up an unrealized dream.
A spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pointed out to Fox News Digital that House Republicans have passed multiple border security and immigration enforcement bills – none of which have been taken up by the Democrat-controlled Senate.
The Johnson spokesperson indicated that with Republicans and Democrats still far apart on the issue, House GOP leaders are relying on former President Trump to take back the White House next year for any meaningful border policy changes to take place.
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Speaker Mike Johnson’s office is suggesting that the divided 118th Congress will likely not pass border security reform, blaming the Democratic Senate’s inaction. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
“House Republicans have passed multiple border security bills – including our signature Secure the Border Act, Laken Riley Act, and Consequences for Social Security Fraud Act – which have been ignored by the Democrat Senate and proves their unseriousness when it comes to dealing with the border catastrophe,” Johnson’s office said. “Democrats have only proposed measures for political cover that won’t fix the problem, and Republicans are not going to let the White House accept anything less than transformative change.”
“House Republicans understand that the only way to truly solve the problem is to elect President Trump in November.”
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Fox News Digital had reached out to Johnson’s office two days after the speaker convened a rare Saturday session to pass his $95 billion foreign aid proposal.
While the wide bipartisan margin demonstrated a victory for Johnson in his still relatively new leadership role, GOP rebels who have been increasingly critical of Johnson for crossing the aisle on key legislation were furious that he passed roughly $61 billion in Ukraine aid without trying to force through border security measures.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has not taken up multiple House-passed border and immigration bills. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“The only path forward for substantive border legislation was to leverage the Biden regime’s push for more Ukraine aid,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., wrote on X last week.
Johnson has also maintained for months that President Biden himself has the unilateral ability to stop the border crisis through executive action – something the White House has pushed back on, arguing a permanent fix has to come from Congress.
The statement from Johnson’s office Tuesday came after Fox News Digital asked if he had spoken with Biden recently about the possibility of executive action on the border, or whether House Republicans could be looking at using the next big legislative fight –fiscal year 2025 government funding –as an area to jam the Senate on border security.
An earlier attempt to pass foreign aid alongside a bipartisan border security deal failed when Republicans in both the Senate and House argued the border measures included would have only codified the Biden administration’s existing bad policies.
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A Johnson spokesperson said, “House Republicans understand that the only way to truly solve the problem is to elect President Trump in November.” (Probe-Media for Fox News Digital)
Democrats, however, refused Republicans’ urging to take up their Secure the Border Act, calling its Trump administration-era immigration provisions a non-starter.
Meanwhile, a House GOP aide familiar with the House Homeland Security Committee’s work said the panel was conducting multiple investigations into the Biden administration’s handling of the border, but would not discuss any pending legislation that House GOP leaders could have potentially held up as a new push for reform.
The House GOP aide said Republicans were committed “to respond[ing] to this crisis and [making] sure people know [they] take this issue very seriously.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office for comment.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article’s headline has been updated to more clearly reflect that Johnson’s office was referring to the Senate.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
