The White House on Thursday sought to project optimism about the future of immigration policy negotiations that are tied to the fate of additional U.S. assistance to Ukraine, in response to reports that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed uncertainty about whether his conference should continue to pursue a border deal.
It comes as former President Donald Trump, who is seeking to win back the White House from President Joe Biden in November, recently has been vocal about his reluctance to a border agreement unless it is "perfect."
“We've been engaging in good-faith, bipartisan negotiations with both Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans to that end. We believe that there's no reason that shouldn't continue,” White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton told reporters on Thursday.
“We believe that there needs to be action on the border, that we need to come together on common sense compromise on border measures and border policy and border resources. And we still are hopeful that that can happen,” Dalton added.
On Thursday, McConnell and Senate Republican leadership downplayed questions about the prospects of a border policy and Ukraine aid deal being over, telling reporters that negotiations were still taking place.
“I think, for now at least, there is still an attempt being made to try and reach a conclusion that would satisfy a lot of Republicans,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters, adding “We’re at a critical moment and we’ve got to drive hard to get this done.”
But confusion about where efforts stood appeared to roil the upper chamber on Thursday after multiple outlets reported the Senate’s Republican leader, McConnell, questioned whether a deal was the best political move during a closed-door GOP meeting on Wednesday.
“I don’t know what’s happening inside the Republican conference right now,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the lead negotiator for Democrats on the border talks told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday. “I know there is a faction that thinks it's better to do nothing on the border for political gain but I still think there is a big group of Republicans that wants to help solve the problem.”
Murphy said the agreement, which has been in the works for weeks, is “90+ percent written” and predicted the chamber would know whether the path to a deal would stay on track over the course of Thursday and Friday.
Murphy along with Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and James Lankford, R-Okla., as well as Biden administration officials have spent weeks trying to hash out a border deal after Republicans insisted that policy changes at the U.S.-Mexico border must accompany Biden’s supplemental funding request for billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific and the border.
Lankford and other Republicans sought to downplay McConnell's stance at Wednesday's meeting, per POLITICO, with the Oklahoma Republican calling the disconnect about the bill "momentary drama."
"[McConnell] made clear that he has been supportive of Sen. Lankford’s negotiating efforts and that we should be supportive of any work product that leads to greater border security," Indiana Sen. Todd Young told the outlet.
"He just tried to get it straight," Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said. "Some of the senators came out and got kind of misconstrued on what he was talking about."
"McConnell has not changed his point of view," Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker explained, adding: "I don’t think anybody disagreed with him. We are at a particular set of crossroads and intersections."
"The ambiguity that was around for the last few hours has been clarified for all of us," Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said. "[McConnell] is fully behind the border bill, fully behind the support for Ukraine and is not going to let political considerations of any campaign stand in the way of his support."
"We’re at a place where this package is almost done," Sinema said, per NBC News. "When the text comes out, senators will be able to review it and make their own decision. Do they want to secure the border? It’s a choice
Trump’s recent vocal pushback on a potential agreement on the border – an issue the GOP often highlights to criticize Biden and Democrats as the U.S. grapples with a surge in migrants – appears to have added another layer to the already complicated negotiations.
“I do not think we should do a Border Deal, at all, unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions & Millions of people, many from parts unknown, into our once great, but soon to be great again, Country!” Trump wrote in a post on his social media site Truth Social last week. “Also, I have no doubt that our wonderful Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, will only make a deal that is PERFECT ON THE BORDER. Remember, without Strong Borders and Honest Elections, we don’t have a Country!!!”
Some Republicans echoed Trump’s stance while others pushed back, stressing the need to address immigration.
“I hope that he'll continue to be against it, be helpful on this, because I see absolutely no reason to give Joe Biden a pass,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said on Thursday.
“I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump and the fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn't want to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling,” Romney told reporters on Thursday.
“The American people are suffering as a result of what’s happening at the border,” the Utah Republican said. “And someone running for president ought to try and get the problem solved, as opposed to saying, ‘Hey, save that problem! Don’t solve it! Let me take credit for solving it later.’”
Another Republican lawmaker in a purple state called passing on the opportunity to enact immigration policy "immoral."
“I didn’t come here to have the president as a boss or a candidate as a boss," said North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. "I came here to pass good, solid policy. It is immoral for me to think you looked the other way because you think this is the linchpin for President Trump to win.”
A pair of Democrats running for reelection in deep red states this fall expressed similar outrage.
“I think it’s crap,” Montana Sen. Jon Tester said to NBC News. “We need to get that deal done to secure the border. If they want to keep it as a campaign issue, I think they need to resign from the damn Senate.”
"They need to put politics aside and do this," Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown said. "The public wants it. They say they want it. We want it.”
Even if the negotiators do reach a deal on the border that can pass the Senate, there has long been uncertainty around whether a bipartisan compromise would go far enough to win enough support among House Republicans to pass the lower chamber.
Asked by reporters at the end of an event at the White House whether Trump was trying to derail negotiations, Biden said "I'd ask him."
The Democratic president requested Congress pass his $106 billion package in October of last year. Although McConnell supports the U.S. providing additional aid to Ukraine, a group in his party, particularly GOP lawmakers in the House, have pushed back on more assistance.
The Ukraine funding is a priority for Biden, who has also said he is willing to make significant changes at the border. Last week, he brought together Congress’ top four leaders as well as the top Republicans and Democrats on key committees for a meeting at the White House to discuss the funding request and border talks.