- Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday dismissed the concept Trump was “calling the shots” within the House.
- On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Johnson defended the House GOP convention’s place on border safety.
- The Senate is about to unveil a border safety plan this week, however House conservatives panned it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday rejected the concept former President Donald Trump was “calling the shots” on border safety.
Johnson made the remarks on NBC’s “Meet the Press” after he was pressed by anchor Kristen Welker about Trump’s continued affect on legislative affairs on Capitol Hill and whether or not the previous president was dictating the get together’s strategy to tackling immigration reform.
“Of course not. He’s not calling the shots. I am calling the shots for the House,” Johnson stated. “That’s our responsibility.”
“And I have been saying this far longer than President Trump has,” he continued. “I have been saying what the requirements are to fix the problem. I don’t care if they call the legislation HR 2 or not. What we’re saying is you have to stem the flow.”
Johnson in the course of the NBC interview insisted that President Joe Biden had the chief energy to curtail unlawful border crossings on the US-Mexico border, an enormous level of rivalry for Republicans because the president’s first 12 months in workplace. HR 2, the hardline immigration invoice handed by the House GOP majority final 12 months, is the one piece of laws that many conservatives will embrace — however it’s a nonstarter with the White House and Senate Democrats.
“The president has executive authority right now,” the Louisiana Republican stated. “As Congress does this negotiation and the debate and the discussion, the president could stop it.”
“He could close the border literally overnight,” the speaker continued, referring to Biden.
The president final month stated that if the Senate handed a bipartisan border safety invoice, he’d “shut down the border” at any time when it was overwhelmed with tried crossings.
Trump, the GOP presidential frontrunner, has staked his 2024 candidacy on immigration, arguing that Biden has refused to safe the southern border correctly. The former president has inspired Republicans to stroll away from the Senate’s border safety plan, which will likely be paired with further funding for Ukraine and is about to be unveiled this week.