Speaker Mike Johnson tells White House there won’t be Ukraine aid without border security

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told the Biden administration that House Republicans will not support further aid to Ukraine unless a border security deal is included, according to a letter sent to the White House on Tuesday.

The Biden administration expressed concern to Johnson on Monday that the U.S. would run out of resources to aid Ukraine by the end of the year unless Congress approved more funding. Johnson responded that House Republicans would only back further Ukraine aid if a border security agreement would be included in the deal, according to his Tuesday letter.

“The position of congressional Republicans has been clearly articulated,” Johnson wrote. “Supplemental Ukraine funding is dependent upon the enactment of transformative change to our nation’s border security laws. The House of Representatives has led in defining reforms to secure America’s borders and passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, more than six months ago. Senate Democrats have refused to act on that bill.”

My response to the White House on their lack of a clearly defined strategy and end game for prevailing in Ukraine and the need for transformative change to our nation’s border security laws: pic.twitter.com/JZZhIp7K4v

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) December 5, 2023

Johnson proceeded to criticize the Biden administration for claiming its border plan “is working as intended,” instead calling it “nothing short of a catastrophe,” according to the letter. He outlined the current problems facing the southern border, including unprecedented illegal immigration and the potential terror threat associated with it, an increase in fentanyl and drug trafficking, and the dangers – including physical and sexual abuse – facing migrants traveling into the U.S.

“The open border is an unconscionable and unsustainable catastrophe … Rather than engaging with congressional Republicans to discuss logical reforms, the Biden administration has ignored [reality],” Johnson wrote. “It is well past time for the administration to meaningfully engage with us.”

The Secure the Border Act was passed in the Republican-controlled House in May.

“Senate Republicans released a proposal for border security in exchange for Ukraine funding. They know full well that this is a total non-starter,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Nov. 7. “Making Ukraine funding conditional on hard-right border policies that can’t ever pass Congress is a huge mistake.”

Johnson and Schumer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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