Republicans unite to block White House and Schumer backed 'fake border bill'

Republicans in both chambers of Congress are warning that they won't support Chuck Schumer's second attempt to bring back a Democrat-backed border bill.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer revealed his plan to bring back a Democrat-backed border bill, but Republicans are uniting to block the attempt. (Getty Images)

He noted that he doesn't expect to get full support from either party, but described the border measure negotiated by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and James Lankford, R-Okla., as "a tough, serious-minded, and – critically, bipartisan – proposal to secure our border."

The White House promptly backed Schumer's plan, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling on "every senator to put partisan politics aside and vote to secure the border."

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Lankford, who notably helped craft the bill, denounced last week the then-speculation of Schumer bringing the measure back to the floor. "Listen, if we're going to solve the border issues, it's not going to by doing competing messaging bills. If we're going to solve this, let's sit down like adults and let's figure out how we're going to actually resolve this together," he said in floor remarks.

Lankford was one of only four in his party to vote in favor of moving forward with the negotiated bill in February. It's unclear if he would support it again. 

His fellow negotiator, Murphy, has led the charge to reconsider the bill. "Republicans don't care about fixing the border," he wrote Monday on X. "They want the border a mess because it helps them politically."

It's unlikely that the measure will be able to get 60 votes in order to move forward, spelling doom for the bill a second time. But if it were to get past the upper chamber, House Republican leadership made it clear it would be "dead on arrival" in its lower counterpart. 

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House leadership preemptively warned that the bill would be "dead on arrival." (Getty Images)

In a statement, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and Republican conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said, "Leader Schumer is trying give his vulnerable members cover by bringing a vote on a bill which has already failed once in the Senate because it would actually codify many of the disastrous Biden open border policies that created this crisis in the first place."

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They further highlighted several tougher illegal immigration and border bills that have been passed by the Republican-majority House. "If Senate Democrats were actually serious about solving the problem and ending the border catastrophe, they would bring up H.R. 2 and pass it this week," they said. 

H.R.2 includes nearly all Republican priorities and has been disregarded by Democratic leaders. Schumer previously remarked that the bill was full of "hard-right border policies" and said it would never be able to pass through Congress. 

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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