House Speaker Mike Johnson told his House colleagues in a letter on Friday morning that the Senate immigration and Ukraine funding deal is “dead on arrival” in the House if the Senate passes it.
The letter, sent to House Republicans on Friday morning and obtained by Breitbart News, makes clear that the Speaker will not consider the Senate plan as written under any circumstances.
“I wanted to provide a brief update regarding the supplemental and the border, since the Senate appears unable to reach any agreement,” Johnson wrote. “If rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway. Nine months have now passed since we sent our Secure the Border Act (HR 2) to the Senate. As we have explained repeatedly, that bill contains the core legislative reforms that are necessary to actually compel the Biden administration to resolve the border catastrophe. The bill’s provisions include transformative corrections, such as the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, the end of ‘Catch and Release,’ meaningful reforms to the existing broken asylum and parole systems, and continued construction of a wall at our southern border. Since the day I became Speaker, I have assured our Senate colleagues the House would not accept any counterproposal if it would not actually solve the problems that have been created by the administration’s subversive policies.”
Letter Final 1-26-24 by Breitbart News on Scribd
By every account from every negotiator and party involved, the Senate plan will not do these things—so what Johnson is saying in effect is that the Senate can pursue whatever it likes, but the House will not be considering it under any circumstances.
Johnson’s throwdown against the Senate plan is no surprise—he had posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, earlier this month that it was a nonstarter in the House. But Washington insiders had been trying to pressure him to back down since then, something he clearly is not going to do after this letter.
It comes as Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell cooled on the Senate negotiations after former President Donald Trump, the leading candidate for president this year and essentially the presumptive nominee, has called on Johnson to reject any deal that is not “perfect.” McConnell told Senators in a private meeting earlier this week that Trump’s position on this changes things, and that he does not want to do anything to undermine the man he said will be the “nominee” of the party for president.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) arrives to a news conference after a lunch meeting with Senate Republicans U.S. Capitol 26, 2023 in Washington, DC. McConnell froze and stopped talking at the microphones and was escorted back to his office. He later returned to the news conference and answered questions. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
But after McConnell walked away from the deal, establishment Republicans like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) pushed to try to revive the failed talks and get McConnell engaged again. Romney lambasted Trump in comments to reporters on Capitol Hill, to which Trump replied via Truth Social, again reiterating his position that any deal must be “perfect” otherwise the best outcome is no deal.
Now, Johnson is basically taking Trump’s exact position—laying out what a “perfect” deal would look like and saying that anything less than that is “dead on arrival” in the House.
Later in the letter to colleagues, Johnson says that his office has identified 64 separate actions that Biden and his administration have taken proactively to open the U.S. border with Mexico to the world. He also said that the House will move forward with impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the next two weeks.
Migrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol after they crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Starting in March, Texas will give police even broader power to arrest migrants while also allowing local judges to order them out of the U.S. under a new law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
“The facts show that President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas have willfully ignored and actively undermined our nation’s immigration laws,” Johnson wrote. “My office has documented at least 64 specific actions taken by his administration that effectively opened our border and instituted the current chaos. Rather than accept accountability, President Biden is now trying to blame Congress for what HE himself intentionally created. The American people know better, and that’s why public opinion polls show the country has overwhelmingly sided with us on this issue. When we return next week, by necessity, the House Homeland Security Committee. by necessity, will move forward with Articles of Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas. A vote on the floor will be held as soon as possible thereafter.”
What’s more, Johnson continued by noting that Biden could prove that he wants to negotiate in good faith with Congress by taking executive action now to stop the flow of migrants into the United States—something Biden could do but simply refuses to.
“Many of our constituents have asked an important question: ‘What is the point of negotiating new laws with an administration that will not enforce the laws already on the books?’” Johnson wrote. “If President Biden wants us to believe he is serious about protecting our national sovereignty, he needs to demonstrate his good faith by taking immediate actions to secure it. He should sign an order right now to end the mass release of illegals and dangerous persons into our country. If he wants our conference to view him as a good faith negotiator, he can start with the stroke of a pen.”
Johnson also said that he has communicated these points directly to Biden in writing, over the phone, and in meetings in person at the White House.
“I have made these demands to the President repeatedly: in a letter late last year; in a phone call two weeks ago; and again at our meeting in the Cabinet Room last week,” Johnson said. “I relayed to him the shocking information we gathered on our trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, earlier this month with 64 House Republicans, and I delivered the pleas of our brave Border Patrol agents and law enforcement officers there on the ground. I insisted to the President that the American people can no longer tolerate the record encounters with illegals (302,000+ in December alone), the overwhelming number of deaths from fentanyl poisoning, human trafficking, the admission of terrorists into our country, and the crushing burdens his policies are inflicting upon all our states and communities.”
Two homeless addicts share a small piece of fentanyl in an alley in Los Angeles, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. Use of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is cheap to produce and is often sold as is or laced in other drugs, has exploded. Two-thirds of the 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021 were attributed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Johnson concluded the letter by noting to his colleagues that the House Republicans stand with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who also now has the support of 25 GOP governors across America, in his effort to secure Texas’s border.
“I made clear that we stand with Texas Governor Greg Abbott in his heroic efforts to protect the citizens of his state and all Americans, and I am emphasizing again today that House Republicans will vigorously oppose any policy proposal from the White House or Senate that would further incentivize illegal aliens to break our laws,” Johnson wrote.