House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday said that he doesn’t think it is President Biden who is deciding to keep the border open.
“He knows that he has the authority. We’ve documented it for him,” Mr. Johnson said on Fox Business. “I’ve read to him the law myself — to the president. Read him the provisions of the law and said, ‘Mr. President, please take action.’ I don’t think he’s allowed to do it.”
The Louisiana Republican said he supposes the president’s staff is calling the shots.
“I think it’s staff around him and they’re pushing him to hold — or to keep the border open,” he said.
Mr. Johnson has urged Mr. Biden to use executive action to address the border crisis before. Over 60 House Republicans wrote a letter to the president Friday saying his administration has “intentionally and systematically undermined” border security laws by refusing to enforce them.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement Tuesday that it’s House Republicans who are blocking a bipartisan border bill, not the president.
“President Biden has been fighting to take rapid action to secure our border, even as House Republicans have consistently voted against the record funding this president has delivered year after year for that purpose,” Mr. Bates said.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Thursday that the text of the long-awaited proposed border deal will be released no later than Sunday.
The Senate also will vote next week on a $110 billion national security package that includes aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, as well as new border security measures.
House Republicans say the deal is dead on arrival.