Biden speaks with Johnson and McConnell to push for border bill

President Biden on Monday talked with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as the White House pushes for a vote on a bipartisan border security bill in the Senate.

The White House in a statement said Biden “reiterated that Congressional Republicans should stop playing politics and act quickly to pass this bipartisan border legislation that would add thousands of Border Patrol agents and personnel, invest in technology to catch fentanyl and combat drug trafficking, and make our country safer.”

Biden spoke last week with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

Schumer announced Sunday that the Senate will take up the bipartisan border deal as a stand-alone measure this week.

The vote is all but certain to fail amid opposition on both sides of the aisle, but it will allow Democratic leaders to flip the messaging switch on Republicans as the border dominates chatter on the campaign trail.

The bill was negotiated by Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). President Biden previously endorsed the bill, calling it a strong compromise where no side got everything it wanted.

A majority of the Republican conference earlier this year voted against advancing the legislation after former President Trump urged GOP lawmakers to oppose the measure, indicating it would give Biden a political win.

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