U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine’s 2nd District is among a bipartisan group of 10 lawmakers offering a deal on the thorny issues of border security and foreign aid that have paralyzed Congress over the past few weeks.
The bill advanced by that group of lawmakers can be read as both an alternative to an aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan approved in the Democratic-led Senate this week and a challenge to House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
Johnson has said that the package is dead on arrival in the Republican-led House because it does not address border security. But the upper chamber severed the issues largely because most congressional Republicans turned on an earlier compromise that packaged foreign aid with granting President Joe Biden sweeping new powers to control the southern border.
Golden, four other Democrats and five Republicans are proposing a simplified bill. While it faces long odds given the level of gridlock on these issues in a presidential election year, it is the kind of measure that could get enough support to pass if leaders brought it to a vote.
“I think we’ve got weeks and weeks of work ahead of us,” Golden said on a call with reporters. “But right now in the House of Representatives, this is the only game in town talking about bipartisan solutions.”
The new bipartisan bill, which is led by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania, and was first reported by Punchbowl News on Friday, would provide just over $66 billion in aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. That total is nearly $30 million less than the Senate bill, responding to conservative skepticism of the amount of aid to Ukraine in its two-year war with Russia.
The Golden-backed proposal would also require immigration officials to immediately expel people entering the country illegally at the southern and northern borders. For one year, the federal government could suspend entry until it gains control of the border. It would also reinstate a policy making asylum seekers stay in Canada or Mexico while resolving their cases.
That approach also differs from the Senate bill, which would have required Biden to effectively shut down the border to asylum seekers and other migrants when average daily migrant arrivals hit 5,000 for a week or 8,500 on a single day. It responds to a surge of illegal crossings that reached an all-time high in December.
The “Remain in Mexico” policy was introduced in 2019 by former President Donald Trump. It has been assailed by advocates who say it opens migrants up to attacks while awaiting asylum decisions. Johnson has urged Biden to reinstate the policy, and the White House has responded by noting Mexican opposition and the need for cooperation between the countries.
Trump is a main character in the current congressional dispute as the Republican approaches a likely rematch with Biden in 2024. He has urged his party to reject any compromise on the border, with his allies saying openly that Republicans should avoid giving Biden a victory to tout on the campaign trail.
Republicans have also made Golden one of their 2024 top targets because of his conservative-leaning district. State Reps. Austin Theriault of Fort Kent and Mike Soboleski of Phillips are running in a June primary. The House Republican campaign arm criticized Golden this week after he opposed the impeachment of Biden’s border chief.
Golden justified that vote by saying policy differences do not warrant impeachment, and he nodded to Trump’s opposition to a border deal by saying Congress should not “stop governing the country for six or seven or eight months simply because it’s an election year.”
“The only thing that is standing away right now is the kind of consolidation of power … in the hands of partisan members,” he said. “If we get them out of the way, Congress would solve these issues.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
