‘I’ve had it’: Senate Republicans fume at Dems over border stalemate

A fury is erupting among Senate Republicans over the state of border talks, and they argue Senate Democrats have little interest in meaningful negotiations, which have flatlined over the past week, hurting chances a supplemental will get done by the end of the year.

The state of border talks has exasperated Senate GOP members, many of whom described themselves as being fed up with discussions and being intensely frustrated at the lack of progress. Nearly a week has passed since Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) walked away from the negotiating table with Republicans, creating yet another headache for lawmakers who want a deal. 

That sense was on full display to one another during Tuesday’s classified briefing to discuss President Biden’s $111 billion emergency supplemental. It featured a number of Senate Republicans leaving early once it became clear the border was not on the agenda for the administration’s briefers. 

Perhaps most telling about the mood among Republicans is some of the most mild-mannered lawmakers were the ones making waves over what they deem to be a lack of seriousness across the aisle, including Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah). Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a Ukraine aid supporter and a defense hawk who is known for her low-key nature, was among those who bolted early and remained miffed about the state of play a day later. 

“I’ve had it,” Fischer, an ally of Senate GOP leadership, said Wednesday. “We let them have it because they deserved to have it.”

Top among the concerns for Senate Republicans is that Democrats are not taking the border component portion of the supplemental seriously enough, and while many of them want to back a package that includes aid for Ukraine, a rising number of conservatives in the House will not. That is forcing them to up the ante on border security.

Members pointed to the briefing as a case in point because none of the briefers — which included Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair CQ Brown Jr. — was prepared to discuss border issues. Republicans widely viewed it as a waste of a meeting and were disappointed as the classified briefing was meant to discuss the supplemental writ large and not just Ukraine and Israel. 

“Huge frustration,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). “That’s a failure on the part of the administration because we really should have had somebody there that can address those issues.” 

Some Republicans are hoping for a second briefing with Secretary of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to have that border-based discussion. 

Adding tumult to the situation is that the contours of negotiations have changed this Congress, especially now with Speaker Mike Johson (R-La.) at the helm across the Capitol complex. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who is commonly involved in bipartisan negotiations and is part of the border discussions, argued that Democrats are attacking this negotiation just as they did when they controlled the House and have not altered their approach.

“There’s a frustration on the Democratic side because I think there’s an increasing realization [that] in order for this to be successful, there are going to be Democrats that are going to be uncomfortable to vote for it,” Tillis said. “They’re trying to think a bipartisan compromise looks like the last Congress, where they can all vote for it. That’s simply not going to be the case.”

“I think it’s still getting people to embrace the reality that we’re talking about a compromise that will get more than half of our conference and fewer than 100 percent of theirs,” he continued. “There’s a lot of confusion around that concept because that hasn’t happened in recent history.” 

Murphy told reporters the state of discussions remains unchanged, and the two sides have not held negotiations since Friday. 

However, potential talks got a shot in the arm as Biden said Wednesday that he is prepared to make “significant sacrifices,” including policy changes, to secure a border deal that would unlock more than $60 billion in Ukraine aid and his $111 billion supplemental before lawmakers break for the holidays. 

“I’ve made it clear that we need Congress to make changes to fix what is a broken immigration system because we know, we all know it’s broken, and I’m willing to do significantly more,” Biden said at the White House.

Republicans were encouraged by the words and hope — coupled with Wednesday’s failed vote to kick off debate on the supplemental — they could give talks a much-needed boost in the near term. 

“There is no Senate Democrat who … can actually make the deal. That has to come from the president of the United States,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said. “He’s going to have to get fully engaged and admit there’s a problem at the southern border.”