Biden Urged to Take Executive Action on Border by Speaker

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., talked with President Joe Biden on the phone Wednesday, urging the president to use executive action to stem the tide of migrants flowing across the U.S. southern border.

The phone call comes amid a fight in Congress over federal funding as deadlines loom Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 to avoid a partial government shutdown. Many Republicans have called for a shutdown if the Biden administration doesn’t agree to tougher border policies.

The call also follows a letter Johnson wrote to Biden in December in which he asked the president to “immediately take executive actions available to you under existing immigration laws to stem the record tide of illegal immigration.”

“Speaker Johnson spoke with President Biden today,” Raj Shah, a Johnson spokesman, said in a statement, CNBC reported. “The Speaker strongly encouraged the President to use his executive authority to secure the southern border and reiterated the contents of his letter to the President dated December 21, 2023.”

Johnson’s letter urged Biden to end “catch-and-release” and either return or detain “all illegal aliens encountered between ports of entry,” cease exploitation of parole authority and ensure it is granted “on a case-by-case basis,” negotiate with Mexico to reinstitute the Remain in Mexico program, expand the use of expedited removal “so that more aliens are screened and immediately removed if they cannot demonstrate asylum eligibility,” and renew construction of the border wall.

Reportedly, more than 8 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border since Biden became president. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents reportedly encountered more than 300,000 in December, a record for a month in U.S. history.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the conversation during Wednesday’s briefing and said a phone call was preferred over the two meeting in person. She did not have details about what was discussed.

“I can confirm the president and Speaker Johnson spoke directly today on the phone,” Jean-Pierre said. “I don’t have any more details to provide. I’ll add the president thought a call was the most expedient option today, and that’s why they spoke on the phone. The president believed it was important to connect as quickly as possible.”

A senior Biden administration official told CNBC the White House has not closed the door to an in-person meeting between Biden and Johnson.