McConnell Advocating for Agreement on Border Security and Foreign Aid

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is redoubling efforts to work out a deal on border security and aid to Ukraine and Israel, The Hill reported.

McConnell recently put Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., in charge of negotiations with Democrats and the Biden administration over the border, a move that one anonymous GOP senator said was McConnell’s attempt “to give James Lankford enough room to run to pull together a deal.”

The anonymous GOP senator added: “For a while, talks were not progressing like people had hoped, and I think now we’re back and we’re so, so close — tantalizingly close — to being able to lock down a deal.

“And I think this is now where Mitch has looked at it and said, ‘This is now the time to reinforce why we can’t squander this. It’s not going to be everything that everybody wants, but there are other issues beyond [the U.S.-Mexico] border that we’re obligated to be thinking about.'”

McConnell made similar comments to reporters earlier this week.

“The world was in a lot of danger before we left, and now it’s even more so,” he said. “Obviously, we’re working very hard to come up with an agreement to improve our situation at the border, but it’s also important to remember the world is literally at war.

“Make no mistake about it: This is the most serious international situation we have faced since the Berlin wall came down. We need to pass a supplemental. There needs to be a strong border provision as part of it. Our hope is that we’ll get an outcome and we get it soon.”

McConnell later said on the Senate floor Wednesday that “Handing Russia victory in Ukraine on account of a waning attention span will only shred America’s credibility, weaken critical alliances, and force us to contend even more directly with two major adversaries at once. I honestly can’t think of a more shortsighted strategic gamble.”