‘Even Worse Than We Expected’: Speaker Johnson Says Senate Border Deal’s a Nonstarter

Bipartisan package has three times as much funding for Ukraine than for securing the U.S.-Mexico border.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), flanked by Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) (L) and Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), makes a statement outside the West Wing of the White House on Jan. 17, 2024. Samuel Corum/Getty Images

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the Senate’s bipartisan border deal will be “dead on arrival” in the House after negotiators unveiled the text of the much-anticipated bill late on Feb. 4.

“I’ve seen enough. This bill is even worse than we expected, and won’t come close to ending the border catastrophe the President has created. As the lead Democrat negotiator proclaimed: Under this legislation, ‘the border never closes,’” the speaker wrote on X.