Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) is preparing a second attempt to pass the bipartisan border bill — after Republicans blocked it earlier this year — a move that comes as that the situation at the southern border remains top of mind for voters ahead of the November elections.
Schumer announced Sunday that the Senate will take up the bipartisan border agreement as a standalone measure this week. The vote will almost certainly fail amid opposition from both sides of the aisle, but it will allow Democratic leaders to shift the message toward Republicans as the border dominates conversations during the campaign.
It will also give vulnerable Democrats the opportunity to publicly declare their support for cracking down on the situation at the southern border.
“We are hopeful that this bipartisan proposal will bring serious Republicans back to the table to advance this bipartisan solution for our border,” Schumer wrote in a letter to colleagues.
In the House, the Education and Workforce Committee is expected to hold a hearing on anti-Semitism on college campuses, the latest move on Capitol Hill to respond to pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked universities in recent weeks. Leaders from Northwestern University, the University of California, Los Angeles and Rutgers University are expected to testify.
The House is also scheduled to pass legislation that would prevent noncitizens from voting in local elections in Washington, D.C.
Senate to try bipartisan border bill again
Schumer’s second attempt to pass the bipartisan border deal comes more than three months after the Republican conference majority voted against advancing the legislation in stunning fashion, a result that followed painstaking negotiations and a pressure campaign former President Trump’s public statement to have Republican lawmakers oppose the measure.
The dual effort — which Schumer teased earlier this month but formally announced on Sunday — comes as the border continues to dominate polls gauging voters’ concerns ahead of November. The issue also remains a key vulnerability for Biden as he seeks re-election.
The proposal, however, is unlikely to succeed this time, despite continued attention on the border, after Republicans — including Sen. James Lankford (Okla.), the GOP negotiator — cast doubt on Schumer’s intentions as he presented the idea of reviving the bipartisan agreement.
“No one has talked to me about trying to resolve this because it’s not a serious job to be able to resolve it,” Lankford told Newsmax last week when asked about Schumer holding a vote on the deal he negotiated.
“What we were trying to do in the past, several months ago, was have a serious, bipartisan conversation, saying where do we have common ground, what can we fix. Biden is not going to do his job, what can we actually do to solve the problem,” he continued. “No one is sitting down to actually do that kind of work right now.”
Schumer alluded to the bill’s slim chances in the Senate, writing that he expects to lose support from both sides of the aisle. But the Democratic leader nevertheless stressed the importance of bipartisan cooperation in dealing with a politically sensitive issue.
“I’ll be honest: I don’t expect all Democrats to support this legislation. Many of our colleagues do not support some of the provisions of this legislation, nor do I expect all Republicans to agree with all of the provisions,” he wrote. “But this is often how bipartisan legislation must be shaped when it comes to an issue as complex and politically charged as our country’s immigration laws.”
A bipartisan group of senators — Lankford, Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) — began negotiations to craft a bipartisan border agreement last year after Republicans said any aid to Ukraine must be accompanied by legislation to resolve the situation on the southern border.
The trio introduced legislation in February — after months of painstaking negotiations — that would raise standards for asylum screening, end the practice known as “catch and release,” and provide new authority to close the border to most migrants when they cross. reach a defined limit. among other provisions.
But after strong encouragement from Trump, most Republicans voted against moving forward with the legislation, forcing Democratic leaders to abandon the proposal and approve foreign aid independently. Congress finally approved a foreign aid package in April, which Biden signed into law.
University leaders will testify at anti-Semitism hearing
A trio of university leaders are set to testify on Capitol Hill this week about the rise of anti-Semitism on college campuses, after a wave of pro-Palestinian protests roiled universities in recent weeks.
Northwestern University President Michael Schill, University of California, Los Angeles Chancellor Gene Block and Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway are all scheduled to appear before the House Education and Workforce Committee.
O hearingtitled “Calling for Accountability: Ending Anti-Semitic Campus Chaos,” is scheduled to take place Thursday at 10:15 a.m.
“The Committee has a clear message for foul-mouthed and cowardly college leaders: Congress will not tolerate dereliction of its duty to its Jewish students,” Education Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (RN.C.) said in a communicated. declaration when announcing the hearing. “No stone should be left unturned while buildings are being defaced, campus greens are being captured or graduations are being ruined.”
“College is not a playground for youth representation or a battleground for radical activists,” she added. “Everyone affiliated with these universities will receive a good dose of reality: actions have consequences.”
The hearing comes after pro-Palestine protests took over college campuses across the country, drawing national attention — especially on Capitol Hill. Almost 3,000 people were arrested during the demonstrations, according to NBC News.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other lawmakers, for example, visited Columbia University — the site of one of the most explosive protests on campus — last month, and earlier this month, the House passed a bill of law that aims to repress anti-Semitism in universities.
Thursday won’t be the first time university leaders have testified on Capitol Hill: In December, the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology appeared before the College of Education.
The presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania resigned after the hearing, following harsh criticism for their statements about anti-Semitism on campus.
House to vote on banning non-citizens from voting in DC local elections
The House will vote this week on a bill that would ban noncitizens from voting in Washington, D.C., local elections, the latest attempt by GOP lawmakers to alter operations in the nation’s capital.
The D.C. Council in 2022 passed the D.C. Noncitizen Voting Act, which expanded the definition of a qualified voter for local elections to include eligible noncitizen residents. In March, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the noncitizen voting status.
Republicans argued that the D.C. law “disenfranchises American citizens and could have a ripple effect on other major U.S. cities.”
“This D.C. law is unfair and against federal law, minimizing the voice of American citizens by diluting their votes with the votes of foreign diplomats and illegal immigrants,” added House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) office. .), on your watch.
House Democratic leadership is opposing the bill, according to Axes.
Consideration of the legislation comes about two weeks after House Republicans approved a bill that would add a citizenship question to the 10-year census. And it follows previous attempts by Republicans in this Congress to overturn several DC laws.
One such example occurred last year, when Congress passed legislation to strike down a D.C. crime bill, which President Biden signed into law.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
