House Freedom Caucus members like Chip Roy, left, and Ralph Norman, right, are opposed to Speaker Johnson's, center, border security plan.
Johnson told lawmakers on Wednesday that the House would consider separate foreign aid bills on Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific and a fourth bill including various foreign policy provisions. If passed, they would be sent to the Senate in a combined package.
To appease Republicans concerned about not using it as an opportunity to crack down on the border crisis, he also unveiled a separate bill similar to H.R.2, the comprehensive immigration and border enforcement bill House Republicans passed last year but which the Democrat-controlled Senate refused to take up. He said that bill would go through procedural hurdles parallel to the foreign aid bills, rather than alongside them.
In a remarkable moment toward the end of the meeting, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the committee, acknowledged that the bill has no support from Democrats and likely no future in Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's Senate. He also pointed out that the three conservative rebels on the panel would likely vote against the bill as well – meaning it would not even survive their committee.
"We've been here. We've done this already. We know what the Senate is going to do. And my three colleagues, who I know have been expressing some discontent about what's going on here, I mean, maybe we can end this hearing. I mean, I think if the three of you vote 'no' on this rule, we're done," McGovern said.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., suggested the meeting should end early given its obvious conclusion. (Juan David Moreno Gallego/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Johnson has argued that tying U.S. border measures to foreign aid, especially Ukraine, would kill its chances of passing ."We want the border to be part of every single thing we do here," he told reporters on Thursday morning, adding, "We don’t have the votes. If you put Ukraine in any package, you can’t also do the border because I lose Republican votes on that rule. My friends don’t get it."
He was initially aiming for a Saturday vote on the foreign aid bills as well as the measure on border security. It's not clear how the Wednesday evening chaos will affect that schedule.
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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