This week, we are seeing DC operate under a façade of panic and urgency to pass mass amounts of foreign aid, roughly $95 billion worth, and at the same time grandstand about securing the border. It’s true the House may vote on a border bill, but the whole situation is a sham. You can see the truth by looking at the procedural trickery and the details of the bills, for our border, this is all political theatre. This is a classic case of DC at its worst.
Before even addressing the content of the bills, look at the process. There are four separate bills on foreign aid. One for Ukraine, one for Israel, one for the Indo-Pacific, and one miscellaneous bill that includes a modified ban on TikTok and part of the REPO Act. Separately, the Speaker has guaranteed a vote on ‘border security.’ Now, it is good that each of the foreign aid bills are being considered one-by-one instead of as a huge package bill. That’s how Congress should work. The issue is that this legislative process gives the Left and President Biden the ability to ignore the border crisis.
In fact, Republicans purposefully made it even easier for the border bill to be dismissed by putting the border bill under a separate rule from the foreign aid bills. This means the border bill will be considered at a completely separate time from the foreign aid bills and the months of posturing from Republican leadership that they would not pass foreign aid without securing our own borders was all talk. The border bill will go nowhere, which was the plan all along.
When you dive into the actual policy in these bills, the situation only becomes bleaker. The “loan” for Ukraine isn’t a loan, it’s outright deficit spending. Half of the loan can be cancelled any time after November 15th of this year and the second half can be forgiven in 2026. What kind of loan can be completely cancelled in three years?
Ironically, the bill also provides $300 million for Ukrainian counter-narcotics purposes. Too bad Congress won’t take protecting Americans from narcotics more seriously since nearly 108,000 Americans died from drug overdose in 2022. Unsurprisingly, it’s a safe bet that more members of Congress will vote to secure Ukraine’s border than will vote to secure our own border.
When you look at the border bill itself, it’s a repeat vote of the House’s border bill, H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, which does everything needed to force a belligerent administration to enforce the law and defend our nation’s borders. To the House’s credit, they passed this bill last year and it has been sitting in the Senate, where Chuck Schumer refuses to bring it up.
So, why is the House is re-voting on this legislation? The truth is in the procedure: the border bill is completely separate from the foreign aid bills, which means there will be no pressure on the Senate or President Biden to do anything on the border. What Congress is claiming as fixing the border this week is all for show. No bills will become law and no actions will be taken. The House has taken its last piece of leverage, foreign aid, and willingly given it up for nothing in return.
Texas and the country are done with posturing and politicizing of the border crisis. Our country is under attack, Americans are dying, and instead of addressing the problem, politicians are wondering how they can use it for political leverage. So, they obfuscate, mislead, and lie instead of doing the right thing. It is hard to stand up for what is right and face down the swamp, but that kind of courage is exactly what America needs right now. Unfortunately, we are getting Washington at its worst instead. Money will be sent abroad while Americans die at home.