Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance pushed Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to use his leverage in securing border security measures during an interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Vance expressed strong opposition to the GOP-controlled House passing a new foreign aid bill without including border security measures. Vance addressed the expected consideration of foreign aid legislation and urged Johnson not to proceed with a package that would send billions to Ukraine while ignoring the U.S. southern border.
“I think Speaker Johnson is a good guy, but if he brings up a foreign aid package, sending billions of dollars to Ukraine, without doing anything on the southern border, it will be a disgrace and a massive betrayal, not just of Republican voters, but of the entire country,” Vance said in the Fox News interview. “Why would people elect Republicans if Republicans are more focused on the border of another country than the border of our own country?”
Great question JD Vance:
“Why would people elect Republicans if Republicans are more focused on the border of another country than the border of our own country?” pic.twitter.com/SgFCscXc8R
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) April 7, 2024
“Speaker Johnson really shows some steely resolve here, pushes back against the craziness, and tells the Biden administration, you don’t get a dime for your foreign priorities until you do your job and secure the border,” the senator continued. (RELATED: House Republicans Threaten ‘Shutdown’ If Border Security Not Included In Government Funding Compromise)
Vance suggested that the Republican Party’s strategic priority should be to ensure Donald Trump’s return to the presidency in 2024 as he pointed out Trump’s firm policies on immigration and border control as essential for long-term solutions.
“This illustrates the need for a President Trump round 2.0. We know that the Biden administration has thrown open the floodgates here. They have undone a lot of Trump-era immigration policy, and we have seen the effects,” Vance said. “But I don’t want to let congressional Republicans off the hook here, because we actually do have leverage. We just have to be willing to actually use it.”
The controversy stems from a $95 billion foreign aid bill passed by the senate in February, aimed at bolstering support for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as previously reported. However, it does not include the border security measures that many Republicans have been insisting on, according to The Hill.