Republican opposition to Senate border bill grows

Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) became the first Republican early Monday morning to oppose the bipartisan border bill being pushed by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Democrats including President Joe Biden.

“I can’t support a bill that doesn’t secure the border, provides taxpayer funded lawyers to illegal immigrants and gives billions to radical open borders groups,” Daines posted on X.

Daines is tasked with regaining a Republican majority in the Senate, so his opposition is a strong signal that the bill will hurt Republicans more than help them.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) also said Monday that he had serious concerns about the bill, now that he has read it after the text was released on Sunday night.

“Now that I have seen text, I have questions and serious concerns,” Cornyn said in a statement.

Democrats are supposedly making concessions that will strengthen border security to get more funding for Ukraine to fight Russia, but like most bipartisan bills, Republicans usually end up getting the short end of the stick. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has already said the bill is dead on arrival in the House.