Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer knows that when he re-introduces the bipartisan border bill, it will again fail. He doesn't care. Schumer admits it is all for political pandering in an election year.

This failed border security bill isn't about true border security, it is about election-year politics. Biden supports this bill because it is all he has. Immigration and border security are top issues for voters and the Biden border crisis has been a disaster for his presidency. 

The border bill was included in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan in its previous attempt for passage. It is a standalone bill, as it should have been all along. Democrats wanted to tie it to foreign aid, hoping that Republicans would go along with it. 

Former President Trump encouraged Republicans to vote against the bill. Democrats have tried to flip the script by claiming it is Republicans who do not want to secure the border. They claim that Republicans want to use it as a campaign issue. The truth is that both parties have used the issue for years. No one thinks, though, that it is Democrats who want to secure the southern border. That is an election-year conversion for some Democrats because the issue is important to voters. That is especially true for Democrats in tight re-election campaigns in spots where Trump won in 2020. 

Schumer wants to focus on the parts of the border bill that include reforming U.S. asylum laws, hiring border patrol agents, and seeking to curtail fentanyl smuggling. He conveniently does not bring up the number of illegal crossings that would have to occur before the border is closed - 5,000 per day. That is a huge sticking point for border hawks. Why isn't the number of illegal crossings zero? That may not be possible but it is aspirational. Why have a law about border control if a large number is baked into the equation as acceptable? 

Republican Senator James Lankford, Independent Kyrsten Sinema, and Democrat Chris Murphy negotiated the border bill. Lankford took a lot of heat for accepting some provisions, like the number of acceptable illegal border crossings. The Border Patrol union endorsed the bill because they said half a loaf was better than no loaf at all. I would argue that no legislation is better than bad legislation. YMMV.

This time around, Lankford will vote against the bill. He called it a "nonserious" attempt to score political points surrounding the Biden border crisis. “This is trying to poke Republicans in the eye rather than try to solve the problem.”

Murphy makes it about a choice between closing the border or helping Trump's re-election bid. That is a false choice, according to Lankford.

Lankford rejected those accusations, telling the Washington Examiner there’s been “no approach or no attempt to try to change” the proposal on the part of Murphy or any other Democrat since it first failed in February.

“What I got was, ‘We’re dropping this bill — you might have heard we’re dropping the bill,’” Lankford said recalling a recent exchange with Murphy. “No disdain for Chris, but there’s not been outreach to try to get something and say, ‘We couldn’t get the last one through. How do we actually get the next one through?’ There's been no interchange like that.”

That is the point. Democrats are not serious, they just want to look like they are doing something. How can they be taken seriously when they wait until the eleventh hour to act? The polling has gotten so bad and voters are so angry now, that they can't ignore the situation Biden put the country in. 

Schumer's letter to his colleagues about re-introducing the border bill said that he knows Republicans and some Democrats will not support it. He admits he wants to show that Democrats are doing something. It does not get any more cynical. 

This is why it is so hard for Republicans to agree to work with Democrats. They do not negotiate in good faith. They are not serious about crucial issues like immigration and border security. 

Biden is now talking about a limit of 4,000 illegal crossings before he would close the border. He is floating the idea of signing an executive order. It is too little, too late. Voters should not take Joe Biden seriously on any issue, he changes his mind on everything according to how the wind blows. That is especially true about border security. 

This will be a waste of time in the Senate. Look for fundraising letters to go out when it fails again. 

Speaker Johnson said the bill is dead on arrival in the House.

My joint statement with @SteveScalise, @GOPMajorityWhip, and @RepStefanik on the Senate taking up failed immigration legislation this week:

For more than three years now, Congressional Democrats have stood by while the Biden Administration has opened our borders to criminal drug…

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) May 20, 2024

Voters aren't stupid. They know this is not a serious gesture.