Nikki Haley says Congress needs to “stay in D.C.” to work on border deal

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said during a Fox News town hall in Columbia, South Carolina, on Sunday that Congress “needs to go in there and stay in [Washington] D.C.” until they figure out how to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Context:

On Friday, Congress went into a 12-day winter recess as unfinished business, including the border security reform, mounts. Earlier this month, the Senate failed to advance a border deal and foreign aid package that would’ve given $20 billion to border security and reformed America’s immigration system.

Republicans in Congress were slammed for not moving the bill forward, with critics saying that they were doing former President Donald Trump’s bidding. Trump, the GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election, called the border deal a “horrible open border betrayal of America,” which critics chalked up to being a political stunt so that he could campaign on the border issue.

What We Know:

Speaking to Fox News’ John Roberts who was moderating the town hall, Haley said, “John, let’s talk about what didn’t happen last week. Here was an opportunity for Congress to go and pass something that would’ve secured our border.”

While Haley admitted that the bill “was not perfect,” she said, “The problem is that Congress needs to go in there and stay in DC until they figure it out and get it right. We can’t wait one more day to secure that border.”

The former South Carolina governor added: “But the other side is President Trump went and told the Republicans, don’t pass anything until the general election. We can’t wait on that.”

Newsweek reached out to Haley’s and Trump’s campaigns via email for comment.

Views:

Despite claims that Trump exerted his control over Republican lawmakers, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who previously said the border deal would be “dead on arrival,” said that the former president was not “calling the shots” when confronted by NBC’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press earlier this month before the border deal failed.

Welker said to Johnson: “Let me ask you about Donald Trump. He said any Republican who votes for this deal should be ashamed of themselves. You said you speak to him frequently and that you’ve discussed this deal with him ‘at length.’ Is Donald Trump calling the shots here, Mr. Speaker?”

“Of course not,” Johnson responded. “He’s not calling the shots. I am calling the shots for the House. That’s our responsibility. And I have been saying this far longer than President Trump has. I’ve been saying what the requirements are to fix the problem.”

What’s Next?

Before Congress went on recess for its winter break, the Senate was working toward a new $95.34 billion foreign aid package that does not address immigration or give funds to border security.

The new aid package includes $61 billion for Ukraine in its war with Russia, $14 billion for Israel as it fights Hamas in Gaza, and $4.83 billion to help America’s allies in the Indo-Pacific region, which includes Taiwan. The package will also give $9.15 billion in humanitarian aid to conflict zones like Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine.

The package advanced to debate on February 8, with a 67 to 32 vote, which included 17 Republican votes. It was then passed by the Senate earlier this week by a 70 to 29 vote, with 22 GOP senators voting for it.

However, Johnson signaled Monday night that the aid package won’t even make it onto the House floor.

“[In] the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters,” he said in a statement. “America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”

Meanwhile, Trump and Haley will face off in South Carolina’s GOP primary, which is set to take place on February 24.

Update 2/18/24, 5:53 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update 2/18/24, 6:29 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information. The headline for this article has also been updated.

Update 2/18/24, 6:52: p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.