The bipartisan national security bill that passed the Senate with 70 votes has slim-to-no chance to be put on the House floor for a vote. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has said as much repeatedly. But those in Congress — and it is a majority — who want to move aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, as the Senate bill proposes, are trying new avenues to push that support forward.
Enter Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who has a discharge petition ready to go which could get around Johnson’s instransigence and have the House take up his security bill. (Discharge petitions are usually used by the minority party, but these are unusual times.)
If Fitzpatrick’s petition were to get the 218 signatures it needs, it could lead to a vote without Johnson’s consent. It has not yet been opened for signatures.
Fitzpatrick’s legislation has more conditions that the Senate bill, more closely resembling a previous bipartisan border security-foreign aid bill put together in an effort negotiated in large part by Republican Senator James Lankford (R-OK) — a bill that didn’t even make it out of the Senate. (Lankford and others believe the bill was killed because it provided U.S.-Mexico border fixes that the GOP didn’t want in an election year.)
Like Lankford’s effort — though less comprehensive — Fitzpatrick’s effort, Punchbowl News reports, has “several immigration-related provisions, such as reinstatement of “Remain in Mexico” and expulsion authority for non-asylum-seeking migrants.” (Punchbowl also reveals Fitzpatrick is “looking to tweak the bill further to draw more votes,” including a Democrat-friendly call for humanitarian aid to Gaza.)
Thank you, @mikepompeo, for your support of our efforts. We must defend our borders and defend our democracies. We cannot have one without the other. Our domestic security, and world peace, depend on it. pic.twitter.com/vhXCuqMadQ
— Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (@RepBrianFitz) March 11, 2024
The Senate bill doesn’t contain immigration provisions, but it also doesn’t contain — according to Johnson — what it needs to warrant a vote. Democrats continue to insist the Senate bill, with the overwhelming 70% support, best answers the challenge.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said last week that “it’s time for my Republican colleagues to stop playing games and engaging in political stunts with respect to the national security priorities of the American people.” Jeffries says those national security priorities “include making sure that we stand with Ukraine and not Vladimir Putin.”
But Johnson’s refusal continues to block the path. Democrats have 213 House members so Fitzpatrick — to make his alternative work — would need to recruit four GOP members to join him to move the legislation.