What’s next for border policy, Ukraine aid after Senate Republicans block bipartisan bill

Amna Nawaz:

Tonight, the future of the U.S. border crisis and for allies across the world rests with the U.S. Senate, which earlier today blocked the bipartisan bill to address immigration and Ukraine funding and now is frozen while considering what happens next.

Geoff Bennett:

It follows an unusual day in the House yesterday, where GOP leadership lost votes on articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and a stand-alone aid package for Israel.

Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins has been watching it all unfold.

So, Lisa, Senate Republicans and five Democrats blocked that border compromise today in the Senate. The day, of course, is not over yet. Could any part of this compromise survive?

Lisa Desjardins:

That is the question right now. Democrats are trying to salvage the Ukraine, Israel and other foreign aid portion of this bill.

But I want to tell you where we are right now by showing you where we are. Let's take a look at the Senate floor right now. You can see almost nothing happening on the Senate floor, staffers there, a few senators in and out. And that is because right now we are waiting to see if Republicans and Democrats will agree on a way forward.

The question is whether they can actually get to this Ukraine aid bill. Senator Schumer this morning talked to us and said he is hopeful. He wants it to pass the Senate, so that it can put pressure on the House.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY):

The majority of Republicans in the House said they want to do Ukraine, they want to do Israel. And we hope that if we pass it in the Senate that the House would then rise to the occasion.

The House is in chaos. It doesn't behoove the speaker well to block everything because 30 hard right-wing people just want chaos.

Lisa Desjardins:

Now, if this Ukraine and foreign aid bill moves forward, we will break down what's in it in future days.

But, right now, I want to talk about where we are. And I try very hard not to harm people's heads and brains with what happens here in Congress. But I want to try and explain the strange paradox that we are in right now.

First, as you explained, let's take a look, that there is this block from mostly Senate Republicans today and four Democrats, one independent, over the border and Ukraine funding bill. Now, so what was next?

Democrats have offered this idea of a bill without the border policy in it, just the foreign aid. But the problem is that those same Republicans who are blocking the bigger deal, they want their own border policy ideas in this.

Essentially, Geoff, what's going on here is that Republicans don't agree amongst themselves about what this bill should look like. Their internal divides are holding a lot of things up. Right now, Senator McConnell, the Republican leader, Senator Schumer, the Democrat, are trying to work out if they can just bring up enough different ideas to the floor to move anything forward.

It is minute by minute, and it could be a long night.

Geoff Bennett:

And, Lisa, in the Lower Chamber yesterday, the House GOP basically tripped at the finish line in trying to bring articles of impeachment against the DHS secretary.

What does it say about their capacity to pass anything or to really just govern at the most basic level?

Lisa Desjardins:

An extraordinary sign that the House actually is not able to govern right now under Republicans doing some of their key priorities.

The impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas was a priority for House Republicans, but as we reported last night, they failed on that vote. Now, it was dramatic. House Republicans were surprised when a Democrat who had been in surgery came to the House floor. But if that is the reason that your vote fails, if you're not counting all the potential Democratic votes, you have a much larger problem.

Also failed yesterday a bill to fund Israel aid, and Republicans could not get enough support for that. House Speaker Mike Johnson knew that he had a lot of questions hovering over him, and he did speak to reporters about what happened this morning.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA):

Democracy is messy. We live in a time of divided government. We have a razor-thin margin here, and every vote counts. Sometimes, when you are counting votes and people show up when they're not expected to be in the building, it changes the equation. Again, the process is messy sometimes, but the job will be done.

Lisa Desjardins:

Now, what's interesting, Geoff, is that he told us, the speaker, that they are committed to bring back the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas in the future.

But we did not get answers on what they plan to do on the border itself, the crisis there, or on Ukraine funding. Now, a senator, Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, says he spoke to Mike Johnson and that Mike Johnson said, a larger aid package is dead.

So there is a lot of confusion, a lot of questions. And I will say, I have a very large capacity, I think, for covering, let's say, legislative nonsense and irrationality. But this week has given even me a headache. And the stakes are incredibly high.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, how are voters seeing all of this, Lisa, all of this chaos and confusion, as you put it?

Lisa Desjardins:

Let's look at some results from the latest "PBS NewsHour," NPR and Marist poll over who they think handles immigration better.

Now, it may not be a surprise that voters, registered voters, said it's Republicans, 42 percent, Democrats 30 percent. Now, the next highest category was folks who thought neither party would handle it better, 19 percent. This is important because the politics here are what's driving things, especially for Republicans.

They see immigration and the border as a key issue that is helping them at the polls. However, when you dig down deeper and ask about approval of members of Congress, let's look at what registered voters said there. Who do they approve, Democrats in Congress better or Republicans in Congress? Voters feel better about Democrats in Congress.

Neither, by the way, get a majority approval. Democrats edge out Republicans. But here's the important part. Let's look at how each party's voters looked at their own members. So when you ask Democratic voters, do you approve of your Democratic members of Congress, 77 percent yes. Look at that.

Republican voters, when asked about Republicans in Congress, barely a majority even approves of members of Congress. Who do Republican voters approve of in our survey? — 84 percent favorable for Donald Trump.

And that is the problem for Republicans here. Their own voters don't really like them. Their voters like Donald Trump. They continue to try and be Donald Trump, but they're not. And they're not able to come up with any formula that works. And the result is this legislative gridlock on very big issues.

Geoff Bennett:

All right. That is Lisa Desjardins breaking it all down for us.

Lisa, thanks so much.

Lisa Desjardins:

You're welcome.