During Friday’s “NewsNation Now” broadcast, Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) expressed his disappointment over the Senate border bill not passing. He criticized the move to bring the bill back this week, knowing it wouldn’t pass, and called for collaborative efforts to resolve the issue.
Levin reflected on the legislative process, emphasizing that bills should have bipartisan support before reaching the floor. He remarked, “What’s sad about this particular bill is that it did have the votes back in February. … And Trump killed it dead and we knew it was going to die this week, too.”
He questioned the political motivations behind the bill’s reintroduction, suggesting it was brought up as political cover for Democrats in vulnerable Senate seats. “I think he and other Republicans are basically saying Schumer brought this up as political cover for Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and other Democrats who are in the Senate in kind of vulnerable states and places he thought maybe this could help them. Isn’t that a fair criticism that there [are] politics now on the Democratic side?” he asked.
Levin responded, “Well, I heard the words of Sen. Lankford that you just played and I agreed with them. And that’s why it’s so critically important that we try to come together again. It’s not easy when the other side, in the House, anyway, the other side doesn’t really seem interested in any sort of bipartisan negotiation. They brought their bill, H.R. 2, without any input from House Democrats and they knew that that bill was going to die in the Senate. So, I don’t want to cast aspersions and place blame and point fingers. I think far too many politicians on both sides are doing it. I think it’s a national security issue and it ought to be nonpartisan, Connell.”
