If Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) becomes the next speaker of the House, he won’t budge on border security when it comes to negotiating with President Joe Biden.
“No money can be used to process or release into the country any new migrants,” he said in an interview with Punchbowl News. “You got 11,000 [migrants] a day coming across the border. … Time out.”
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Jordan, who boasts the most endorsements in the speaker race against Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), further said he would threaten a 1% spending cut across the board in order to force the Biden administration to act decisively on addressing the southern border.
House Republicans are tasked with electing a new speaker after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) last week led a historic motion to vacate former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from his role. In a vote of 216-210, eight Republicans sided with House Democrats against McCarthy. Since his ouster, both Jordan and Scalise have announced bids for the role.
Border security has been a top priority for Republicans in the 118th Congress, almost prompting a government shutdown last month as they pushed for it to be included in a continuing resolution. It was ultimately left out of the 45-day bill to fund the government. But Democrats and Republicans agreed to leave out Ukraine aid and increase federal disaster relief by $16 billion.
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Despite it not being included in the short-term funding measure, Republicans remain motivated to pass legislation through the chamber while they have the majority. And if Jordan, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, becomes speaker, he is expected to spearhead action to address security on the southern border.
Inaction on the southern border was also cited as a reason for McCarthy’s removal from the speakership by some of the hard-line conservative defectors. Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) said “Our border is facing an unprecedented invasion,” following his vote to oust McCarthy. “The House of Representatives and the American people deserve a leader who can challenge the status quo and put an end to this ruin.”
