Trump, Biden in dueling Texas border visits: Live coverage

Biden left Texas just after 5 p.m. local time. Trump is staying in the Lone Star State for an appearance on Fox News at 9 p.m. EST with host Sean Hannity.

Biden boarded Air Force One to head back to Washington, D.C., along with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), shortly after his remarks in Brownsville.

The president’s trip to Texas involved an operational briefing from Border Patrol agents, which came as he is trying to push House Republicans to pass a bipartisan border deal that would provide more resources to agents.

— Alex Gangitano

The Senate struck a time agreement Thursday evening to allow lawmakers to vote on a stopgap spending bill in the coming hours.

Lawmakers will vote on four amendments, followed by final passage of the continuing resolution. 

Included in the agreement are four amendments offered by Senate Republicans. One, pushed for by Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), would prevent the Federal Reserve from buying states’ debt. Another, by Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), would enact H.R. 2, the House’s partisan border security bill. 

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) also won a vote on an amendment that would extend the continuing resolution for the rest of fiscal 2024 and include the House-passed Israel aid bill. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged senators to remain at their desks between votes so they could limit votes to 10 minutes apiece.

— Al Weaver

Biden made a rare call to Trump on Thursday, asking his political rival to work with him on solving the issue at the U.S. southern border.

“I understand my predecessor’s in Eagle Pass today. So here’s what I would say to Mr. Trump: Instead of playing politics with the issue, instead of telling members of Congress to block this legislation, join me, or I’ll join you in telling the Congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill,” he said. “We can do it together.”

The outreach came after the president urged House Republicans to take up the bipartisan border deal, which Trump had a hand in killing earlier this month.

— Alex Gangitano

Biden called on House Republicans to “show a little spine” during his remarks in Texas, urging them to pass the bipartisan border deal, which has been scrapped.

“The Speaker of the House needs to put this bill on the floor because if if he put it on the floor, unrestricted, it would pass,” he said. “The majority of Democrats and Republicans in both houses support this legislation until somebody came along and said don’t do that, it will benefit the incumbent. That’s a hell of a way to do business in America for such a serious problem.”

Biden was referring to Trump’s hand in killing the border deal, which Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) deemed dead on arrival in the House after Senate negotiators unveiled it.

— Alex Gangitano

Biden said during his visit to the border that Border Patrol, immigration enforcement, and asylum officers told him they need more resources.

“They desperately need more resources … need more agents, more officers, more judges, more equipment for us to secure our border,” he said.

Biden, while calling on Congress to pass the now-defunct bipartisan border deal, said border agents need more personnel and that more judges need to be hired, noting the backlog of immigration cases.

— Alex Gangitano

Biden began speaking at 3:42 p.m., two minutes after Trump’s remarks concluded.

The president began his remarks by addressing the wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma.

The president was surrounded by border agents during his remarks with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at his side.

— Alex Gangitano

Trump finished speaking at about 3:40 p.m. local time.

He fielded two questions from the press, one on the situation in Venezuela and another on GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (Ky.) decision to step down from leadership.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) spoke after Trump, saying it was a day of “an extraordinary contrast.”

“We have President Trump back in the state of Texas literally on the border itself, a place he has been to many times, talking about all the things he has done to secure the borer,” Abbott said.

“At the very same time, we have President Biden down in Brownsville, Texas, which was an obligatory visit by him,” Abbott said.

“Biden does not care about either Texas or the border and what’s going on,” he added.

The Biden administration has been locked in a legal battle with Texas over its immigration laws.

— Brett Samuels

Trump bashed the Democratic governors of Arizona and California during his remarks along the southern border.

“The governor’s not doing his job in California,” Trump said of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), an outspoken Trump critic.

“He’s doing a terrible job. He talks a good game; he talks about how wonderful things are, but he’s wrong,” Trump added. “And they have a big outflow of people. People that pay taxes, people that don’t commit crime. They’re leaving.”

— Brett Samuels

Trump said he spoke Wednesday with the parents of Laken Riley, a University of Georgia student who was killed last week.

“I spoke to her parents yesterday. They’re incredible people,” Trump said. “They’re devastated. Beyond belief. She was just so beautiful in so many ways and brutally assaulted. Horrifically beaten.”

“The monster charged in the death is an illegal alien migrant who was let into our country and released into our communities by crooked Joe Biden,” Trump added.

Police have charged a Venezuelan migrant with her killing.

— Brett Samuels

The former president began speaking at 3:15 p.m. local time, flanked by local law enforcement.

He wasted little time attacking Biden as “incompetent” and blaming him for allowing “thousands and thousands” of migrants into the U.S.

— Brett Samuels

Biden and Trump met with local officials and law enforcement simultaneously during their respective trips to the border.

Trump in Eagle Pass met with local law enforcement and was joined by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who explained to the former president the addition of razor wire and other measures taken to secure the border.

Biden, meanwhile, spoke with Border Patrol officials in Brownsville. The group was joined by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

— Brett Samuels

Biden landed in Texas Thursday afternoon for his visit to the border in Brownsville.

He was greeted by Brownsville Mayor John Cowen, as well as Lorena Saenz Gonzalez, the spouse of Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (D-Texas). The congressman will join Biden on his visit.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas traveled with the president and will also join him at the border.

— Alex Gangitano

The former president has landed in Texas, where he is expected to meet with Border Patrol agents and local law enforcement.

Trump spoke very briefly on arrival, and he is expected to deliver remarks later Thursday afternoon on border security.

“Nice weather. Beautiful day. But a very dangerous border. We’re going to take care of it. Thank you,” he said.

— Brett Samuels

The House approved a short-term funding bill Thursday to avert a partial government shutdown this weekend, sending the legislation to the Senate one day before Friday’s funding deadline.

The legislation — which cleared the chamber in a 320-99 vote — kicks the two government funding deadlines to March 8 and March 22, buying lawmakers more time to hash out their differences on spending bills and push them over the finish line.

Trouble could be ahead, however.

While lawmakers say they have a deal on the six appropriations bills due next week, disagreements remain on the other half-dozen measures, which include more controversial pieces of legislation funding agencies like the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security.

“Clearly the second group of bills could be difficult and problematic, especially as Republicans in the House continue to insist on policy riders that erode women’s reproductive freedom,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), chair of the Democratic Caucus, said shortly before the vote.

READ MORE HERE.

— Mychael Schnell and Aris Folley

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said President Biden will not be announcing any unilateral new actions while he is at the border in Texas Thursday.

“There will not be any executive actions announced today,” Mayorkas told reporters on the way to Texas. “The legislation is what we need, it is the enduring solution. Actions taken outside of legislation are often met with litigation challenges in court.”

White House officials have stressed that the bipartisan border deal, which senators negotiated and the White House endorsed, is essential for border security, a message that Biden will repeat while at the border later Thursday.

— Alex Gangitano

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Thursday “the House is actively considering options” for foreign aid, days after President Biden and other congressional leaders implored him to move on assistance for Ukraine during a meeting at the White House.

“The House is actively considering options on a path forward, but our first responsibility is to fund the government,” Johnson said at a press conference when asked about the future of foreign aid, referring to the effort to stave off a partial shutdown by Friday’s deadline.

When pressed on the topic of Ukraine after the press conference, Johnson said, “the House is looking at all available options right now, and we’ll address that as soon as the government is funded.” 

READ MORE HERE.

— Mychael Schnell

Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), the chair of the subcommittee crafting the legislative branch funding bill, said there is a dispute over a GOP-backed proposal to eliminate the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI).  

Asked why his subcommittee’s bill wasn’t among the group of full-year spending plans set to be voted on next week, Amodei said negotiations on the measure were not yet “buttoned up” amid a partisan dispute over the office. 

“We moved it to [the Chief Administrative Office (CAO)], funded it,” Amodei said, referring to the House GOP’s initial proposal for the office last year. But Amodei said Democrats pushed against the proposal in a later counteroffer, insisting the office stay “the way it was.” 

In a fiscal 2024 legislative branch funding plan rolled out by House Republicans last year, the party proposed what it described at the time as a “restructuring” of functions for the ODI as part of a reorganization at the CAO aimed at curbing costs.

But Democrats have criticized the measure, while also warning of the potential impact it could have on diversity in Washington. 

The back-and-forth comes as Democrats and Republicans have clashed over a larger GOP-backed push in their funding plans targeting the Biden administration’s diversity and equity efforts.

— Aris Folley

The head of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus is bashing the nascent funding agreement hashed out by leaders of both parties, warning that conservatives would be willing to force a government shutdown to secure steeper cuts and policy preferences. 

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) has led the charge among the far-right lawmakers urging Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to fight for scores of conservative policy riders to accompany the 2024 spending bills. Absent that, those Republicans want the Speaker to champion a stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to extend government funding at current 2023 levels through the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends on Oct. 1. 

The latter strategy would trigger an automatic, 1 percent cut to federal programs of all types beginning May 1 — a stipulation of last summer’s bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) designed to encourage lawmakers to reach an agreement on 2024 spending or face reductions to popular programs.

Good said that a 1 percent cut is far preferable to the deal Johnson endorsed with the leaders of both parties and both chambers, which adopts higher spending caps established by those same leaders in January. He’s also calling for a series of policy changes, including tougher border security measures and a scaling back of the government’s spying powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). 

“I would do a CR through Sept. 30 that triggers the FRA caps that would cut about $100 billion from the deal,” Good said Wednesday evening in the Capitol.

“I’d attach border security to it. I would attach [the] Israel pay-for. And I’d attach FISA … reforms. That’s what I’d like to see happen. And we ought to be willing to have a shutdown fight to force it to happen.” 

READ MORE HERE.

— Mike Lillis

Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said Thursday that he believes the House will be able to pass the required government funding bills to avoid a March 8 partial shutdown after a continuing resolution (CR) passes Thursday.

He touted the “agreement in principle” to continue government funding.

“Republicans have walked away from bipartisan deals in the past, and so we’re we’re cautiously optimistic that we can meet these deadlines,” he said at a press conference.

The proposed continuing resolution would push funding deadlines to March 8 and March 22. Aguilar warned that the second set of bills won’t be as easy to pass.

“Clearly the second group of bills can be difficult and problematic, especially as Republicans in the House continue to insist on policy riders that erode women’s reproductive freedom,” he said. “I think that House Democrats will stand in lockstep to ensure that that doesn’t happen.”

“We look forward to working with our colleagues to avoid the shutdown,” he added.

— Nick Robertson

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) said Thursday he needs to speak with spending cardinals about what’s included in the forthcoming government funding bills before he decides how he’ll vote on the stopgap measure.

“So, the end game is what’s in the text. What did we really get negotiated in the appropriation bills,” Hern said to reporters. “So, we’re looking at some of those texts right now coming out of appropriations.” 

Hern leads the Republican Study Committee, the House’s biggest conservative caucus.

Asked if he expects to get the text before the vote on the stopgap bill, Hern said, “Well, we’re talking to some of the appropriators so we know what’s gonna be in those bills.” 

“If the final outcome is that we negotiated nothing, got no riders, and we’re spending more than we’ve ever spent, I can’t be a part of it,” Hern said.

— Aris Folley

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) on Thursday said he does not think Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will face a vote on his ouster for putting another continuing resolution on the floor, which is angering conservatives in the chamber.

“This is House Republicans coming to terms with reality,” McHenry told reporters when asked about a potential motion to vacate.

The North Carolina Republican spoke to the current dynamics in the House, where the GOP conference has a two-person majority in divided Washington.

“In this environment singles and doubles are wins. We have one-half of one-third of government, we have to have proper expectations for what we have to achieve,” McHenry said.

McHenry, who was critical of Johnson’s leadership during an appearance on CBS’s “The Takeout with Major Garrett” podcast, on Thursday commended the Speaker’s decision to move forward with the bipartisan, bicameral spending deal.

“That’s why I’m commending him today, because he is conforming with the reality of the situation,” McHenry said. “Politics is trying to achieve the best outcome you can in the environment you’re in, right. So this is not about perfection, it’s not about being 100 percent pure, it’s about moving things in the best direction we can with a Democrat Senate and with some Senate Republicans siding with Senate Democrats on spending levels.”

“This is the best outcome we can get,” he continued. “My hope is we’ll get some policy wins. My hope is that we’ll get the spinning restraints that we’ve been desirous of and we negotiated for in raising the debt ceiling. So I think this is a wise course of action. And I think it will get a wide vote, the CR will get a wide vote on the floor and I think these packages will get a wise vote on the floor.”

— Mychael Schnell

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) made it clear Thursday that she’s extremely unhappy with her party over a continuing resolution (CR) proposal that she said goes against what the GOP agreed on and stands for.

“Remember the big fight earlier this year about no CRs and rules and no omnibuses and no minibuses? Well, everything talked about in conference this morning was a CR, another CR, a week-long CR,” she said. “And then you’ve got the most conservative members of Congress standing up wanting a one-year CR. I don’t know what to say.”

“I’m unhappy with our entire GOP conference. It’s a failure,” she continued. “We’re doing everything we said we wouldn’t do. That’s a failure, in my opinion.”

Greene made clear that she would not vote on Thursday for a CR, which has already faced opposition from the most conservative members of the conference.

“The Speaker was elected in October; we haven’t seen an appropriations bill yet,” she said. “This is our third CR, and supposedly we’re gonna vote on two minibuses. If this is the plan to get ready for 2025, It’s not really a plan that I support.”

— Nick Robertson

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said he’s unhappy with the proposed continuing resolution (CR) and won’t vote for it, but he refused to lay blame at the feet of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).

“It’s a one vote majority. He’s up against the wall. He’s going to have to make some tough decisions,” Burchett said.

“I support him, I don’t support a CR, because the situation he’s in is the political reality,” he continued.

Burchett instead blamed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for putting the GOP conference in a tough spot.

“Speaker Johnson inherited a bad situation,” he said. “At least this Speaker is telling me the truth.”

Burchett was one of eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy last year.

— Nick Robertson

Several conservative House Republicans said they won’t vote for the stopgap funding measure to avert a shutdown Thursday.

These include Reps. Troy Nehls (Texas), Byron Donalds (Fla.) and Tim Burchett (Tenn.).

The continuing resolution is coming up under suspension of the rules, allowing it to bypass conservatives’ ability to sink it on a procedural vote.

But that means it needs a two-thirds majority and would need to pass with Democratic votes.

— Nick Robertson

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said he does not prefer a short-term continuing resolution (CR), instead backing a year-long CR that triggers automatic budget cuts in April.

“I’m for the long-term CR, that’s the only way you can get leverage,” he said. “That’s not what the direction looks like now.”

“We’re already halfway through the fiscal year, we should just go ahead and do the long-term CR,” he added.

— Nick Robertson

President Biden’s visit to the border Thursday is part of an effort to go on offense against former President Trump, and to turn a political liability into a line of attack against Republicans.

The Biden campaign sees Trump’s hand in getting Republicans to kill a bipartisan proposal to bolster resources at the southern border as a major messaging gift for them.

They’re seeking to blame Trump for the lack of action at the border, while tying the former president and his party to Washington’s dysfunction.

“Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” Biden said earlier this month.

There are plenty of reasons to question whether Biden can succeed in the border effort.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

— Brett Samuels and Alex Gangitano

Johnson quipped Wednesday that the reports of congressional leaders ganging up on him during this week’s meeting at the White House are “pretty accurate.” 

Johnson met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), President Biden and Vice President Harris at the White House Tuesday to discuss government funding.

All had a unified message for the Speaker: Ignore the pressure from conservative critics and avoid a government shutdown Friday.

“Well their reports are pretty accurate. They said that I was on an island by myself, and it was me versus everyone else in the room,” Johnson told Fox News anchor Sean Hannity.

“What the liberal media doesn’t understand Sean, is that if you’re here in Washington and you’re described as a leader that’s on an island by themselves, it probably means you’re standing with the American people,” he continued. “And that’s what I did yesterday, I reminded the president, and all involved, that the number one issue in America is that open border. The catastrophe that we have that President Biden himself designed that he caused and created, and I told him, just as I have many times before, he must address it with executive authority. We can’t wait any longer.”

— Miranda Nazzaro

Congressional leaders have struck a deal to avert a government shutdown this week, agreeing to punt a pair of funding deadlines later into March to buy more time for spending talks.

Under the deal announced Wednesday, leaders have agreed to extend funding for six full bills covering the departments of Agriculture, Justice, Commerce, Energy, Interior, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development through March 8.

The deal would also extend funding for the remaining six annual funding bills, which cover the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, the Pentagon and other offices, through March 22.

“We are in agreement that Congress must work in a bipartisan manner to fund our government,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement Wednesday, along with the heads of the appropriations committees in both chambers.

“To give the House and Senate Appropriations Committee adequate time to execute on this deal in principle, including drafting, preparing report language, scoring and other technical matters, and to allow members 72 hours to review, a short-term continuing resolution to fund agencies through March 8 and the 22 will be necessary, and voted on by the House and Senate this week.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

— Aris Folley