House Republicans Are Taking a Two-Week Vacation As They Put Trump Ahead of Border Security and Supporting Our Allies
February 20, 2024
In response to House Republicans taking a two-week vacation as they refuse to take action to secure the border or support our allies abroad, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:
“House Republicans refuse to secure the border at home or support our allies abroad, but they are happy to take a two-week vacation as they block bipartisan solutions to deliver on the priorities that the American people care about – instead, doing the bidding of just one American: Donald Trump. The House GOP is doing exactly what Trump and Vladimir Putin want. While President Biden is supporting a bipartisan border deal and aid to our allies around the world, House Republicans continue to be nowhere to be found as they wait for Trump’s next marching order.”
House Republicans are taking a two-week recess instead of taking action to improve border security at home or support our allies abroad.
The Hill: “House GOP leadership canceled votes for Friday, and the House will return to Washington on Feb. 28 after the President’s Day recess. … Johnson on Friday issued a statement saying Putin was ‘likely directly responsible’ for Navalny’s death, but he did not give any indication the incident had immediately changed his calculus on bringing Ukraine aid to the floor for a vote. … Now, the House GOP’s inaction on Ukraine coincides with comments from Trump that he would not protect NATO allies from a Russian attack if they had not contributed enough money toward defense spending.”
“Johnson, who is working with an extremely narrow margin in the House, initially opposed a bipartisan border security proposal, aligning with Trump, who said it was a political loser for Republicans. The Speaker has since rejected the national security supplemental passed with an overwhelming majority in the Senate because he said it did not include strong border provisions.”
Punchbowl News: “This is the most chaotic, inefficient and ineffective majority we’ve seen in decades covering Congress. It started this way under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and has gotten worse under Johnson. And things aren’t going to get easier. The House is leaving town today by 2:30 p.m. for the 13-day Presidents Day recess. When members return on Feb. 28, there will be only three days to fund a huge swath of the federal government or face a partial shutdown. There’s another full shutdown deadline a week later. … By Wednesday afternoon, with Rules in a recess, Johnson pulled the plug and the leadership announced that they were cutting the week short.”
Instead of working for the American people, Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson went to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald Trump – proving once again that the House GOP is just another arm of Donald Trump’s campaign.
Johnson: “Just had a great meeting with President @realDonaldTrump this Presidents’ Day.”
Instead of supporting bipartisan border security legislation, House Republicans baselessly impeached Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas.
HuffPost: “House GOP Impeaches DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — Just To Help Trump”
Politico: “As Republicans accuse Mayorkas of grossly mishandling the border, Johnson is actively refusing to consider the Senate’s bipartisan deal to ramp up border security.”
CNN: “The border compromise would represent a dramatic change of immigration law on lines many Republicans have long supported. … The Mayorkas impeachment effort … will have zero practical impact on the crisis at the southern border.”
New York Times: “Republicans Against Border Enforcement”
Rolling Stone: “Border Patrol Supports ‘Strong’ Immigration Deal. Republicans Don’t Care”
CNN: “Trump, who is hoping to make immigration a key plank of his presidential campaign, has suggested on Truth Social that approving additional resources for the border would make Republicans ‘look bad.’”
Vox: “Trump made this clear when he reportedly urged Republicans in Congress to turn against the bipartisan Senate border security bill scheduled for a vote Wednesday so that he could keep the issue alive through the presidential election. His supporters have largely fallen in line.”
Trump: “I think [Republicans] are making a terrible mistake if they vote for the bill.”
Trump: “Please blame it on me.”
Johnson’s hypocrisy is on full display – he previously railed against “single-party impeachment” and is blocking the bipartisan border security legislation despite repeatedly calling for action to secure the border and saying it “is a job for Congress.”
Speaker Mike Johnson: “The founders of this country warned us against a single-party impeachment because they feared that it would bitterly and perhaps irreparably divide our nation.”
Johnson: “I hope and pray that future congresses can and will exercise greater restraint.”
Johnson: “Our immigration system is broken. Reforming that system is a job for Congress.”
Johnson: “The crisis at our southern border has deteriorated to such an extent that significant action can wait no longer.”
Johnson: “We must insist — must insist — that the border be the top priority.”
Johnson: “I do think it’s past time to secure the border.”
Johnson: “I have said that very clearly from day one, we have to solve the [border] problem.”
Republicans are going after each other for pursuing a baseless impeachment sham and admitting that it does nothing to improve border security.
Politico: “‘Dangerous’ or ‘unambiguous’: Mayorkas impeachment divides House”
Business Insider: “Even some Republicans are nervous about how Mayorkas’ impeachment could backfire”
House Republican Ken Buck: “I prosecuted for 25 years. I know what a high crime and misdemeanor are and I know that this doesn’t qualify. … This is a terrible impeachment. It sets a terrible precedent. … We’ve got to stop this in this body, or we are going to lose our credibility with the– further lose our credibility with the American public.”
House Republican Tom McClintock: “This strikes at the very heart of the Constitution’s separation of powers.”
Fox News: “[Rep. McClintock] called it a ‘stunt.’”
House Republican Mike Gallagher: “Creating a new, lower standard for impeachment, one without any clear limiting principle … would only pry open the Pandora’s box of perpetual impeachment.”
Axios: “House Republican push to impeach Mayorkas meets chilly Senate GOP reception”
Igor Bobic, HuffPost: “GOP Sen. Cramer calls impeaching Mayorkas ‘the dumbest exercise and use of time’
‘What’s rich to me is the speaker says the [border] bill in the Senate is… dead on arrival. And then they proceed impeaching a cabinet secretary, which is obviously dead on arrival.’”
Senate Republican Shelley Moore Capito: “I don’t think impeachment was something intended to be brought up every three months or every two months.”
CBS News: “Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, told reporters that he expects the effort to fall short in the Senate. ‘It’ll fail in the Senate,’ Lankford said. ‘If I could use the House term, it’ll be dead on arrival when it comes over.’”
Axios: “Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said impeachment is a ‘waste of time.’”
Senate Republican Thom Tillis: “They’re taking a fast track to condemning something they know nothing about, and they’re taking a fast track to using impeachment without doing their homework.”
Senate Republican Lisa Murkowski: “If we have to deal with an impeachment proceeding that’s going to come across on a wholly partisan vote, there’s more important things.”
Senate Republican Mitt Romney: “I haven’t seen the constitutional standard met yet.”
In the NY-03 special election, both parties talked about border security, but only Democrat Tom Suozzi could make the case that Democrats have a plan while Republicans are all talk and no action when it comes to securing the border.
NBC News: “A decisive victory Tuesday for Tom Suozzi flipped a bellwether New York House district into the Democratic column, thinning an already small House GOP majority and potentially offering a preview of the campaign tactics in 2024 battleground races nationally. … Republicans went all-in on the issue of immigration as their ticket to victory — and fell short.”
HuffPost: “Suozzi affirmed his commitment to border security in two TV ads, and in the final days of the campaign, slammed Pilip for opposing a bipartisan Senate deal to shore up the border after Trump warned that it would benefit Biden. What’s more, Suozzi and his allies were apparently able to get the latter point across without the benefit of advertising and direct mail.”
New York Times: “When Ms. Pilip rejected a bipartisan Senate deal to boost deportations and fortify the border, Mr. Suozzi turned the tables, arguing that she was putting base politics above national security.”
CNN: “Many voters in the swing district pointed to immigration as a top issue, something that could also be true for voters across the country during this year’s general election. … Suozzi argued that he was the only person offering solutions in the race and criticized some Republicans in Congress for killing a bipartisan deal on the border.”
Wall Street Journal: “Democrat Tom Suozzi won a special election Tuesday on Long Island, flipping a seat in Congress from the GOP and sending a signal that his party can withstand Republican attacks on immigration in swing districts far from the border.”
NPR: “This race was dominated by GOP attacks on immigration. Republicans spent more than $8 million on campaign ads in this race, a huge number for a special congressional election. They hammered Democrat Tom Suozzi on immigration on the airwaves. Republican Mazi Pilip even held rallies near a makeshift tent city in Queens that houses migrants. … Democrats showed they can defend themselves on this issue.”
Washington Post: “The victory also validated Suozzi’s decision to invest heavily in countering the GOP on immigration, suggesting that Democrats in tight races can benefit from talking tougher on the border and highlighting Republicans’ abrupt abandonment of a bipartisan deal on the matter negotiated in Congress.”