The Senate border bill was struck down this week, and President Joe Biden (D) has pointed the finger at Republicans. In response, Republicans have pushed back, arguing that the bill did not meet the concerns that should be addressed. In an exclusive interview with the Floridian, Florida Senators Marco Rubio (R) and Rick Scott (R) argued that the House should have been involved in negotiating the Senate border bill.
The $118 billion national security supplemental package that included the bipartisan border as well as foreign aid to both Israel and Ukraine failed this week with a 49-50 vote. It required a vote of 60 to begin the debate.
President Donald Trump (R) campaigned against the bill, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) declared the bill “dead on arrival” in the House.
In an interview with The Floridian, Senators Rubio and Scott were asked if the House should have been included in the negotiation of the bill. Both noted that it was a bad move for the House to not be involved.
“Of course,” Senator Scott answered, adding “I mean, we’ve got a majority.”
“They ought to be right in the middle of all the conversation,” he concluded.
Senator Rubio explained that the House should’ve been involved in the negotiation of the bill “only if you wanted it to pass.”
The text of the bill was released Sunday after months of bipartisan discussions. Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I) was one of several Senators who led the discussion, and after the vote failed, she took to the Senate floor to denounce those who opposed the bill.
“If you want to spin the border crisis for your own political agendas, go right ahead. If you want to continue to use the southern border as a backdrop for your political campaign, that’s fine. Good luck to you. But I have a very clear message for anyone using the southern border for staged political events. Don’t come to Arizona,” Senator Sinema said.
The Senate is now expected shift its attention to a new bill that will only include foreign aid.
