Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday filed a procedural motion to advance a bipartisan border security bill, teeing it up for a vote this week.

The move from Schumer comes after President Joe Biden spoke with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and urged them to take up the bill, which was killed by Senate Republicans earlier this year.

What You Need To Know

  • Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer teed up a bipartisan border security bill for a vote this week

  • The move from Schumer comes after President Joe Biden lobbied House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to pass the bill, underscoring its importance to the Democratic president in an election year

  • The bill, negotiated by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and James Lankford, R-Okla., was initially part of a larger package that would have provided aid to Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies, but Senate Republicans torpedoed it amid pressure from the House GOP and former President Donald Trump

  • The measure would provide funding to hire new Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection personnel, add new immigration judges and asylum officers to process cases faster, invest in technology aimed at stopping the trafficking of fentanyl and give the president the authority to shut down the border when overwhelmed

The bill, negotiated by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and James Lankford, R-Okla., was initially part of a larger package that would have provided aid to Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies. It was initially negotiated after Republicans demanded border security provisions in exchange for advancing more aid for Ukraine, but was torpedoed by the Senate GOP amid pressure from their House counterparts and former President Donald Trump.

“Back in January, the former President urged Congressional Republicans to kill the bipartisan bill, telling the world proudly to ‘blame it on me,’” Schumer wrote in his letter to colleagues on Sunday announcing his intention to put the bill up for a vote. “The American people do not have the luxury of playing partisan blame games. They want bipartisan action to secure our border.”

The measure would provide funding to hire new Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection personnel, add new immigration judges and asylum officers to process cases faster, invest in technology aimed at stopping the trafficking of fentanyl and give the president the authority to shut down the border when overwhelmed.

“We are hopeful this bipartisan proposal will bring serious-minded Republicans back to the table to advance this bipartisan solution for our border,” Schumer wrote, before acknowledging that he predicted some defections among his fellow Democrats.

“I will be honest: I do not expect all Democrats to support this legislation,” he said. “Many of our colleagues do not support some of the provisions in this legislation, nor do I expect all Republicans to agree to every provision. But that is often how bipartisan legislation must be shaped when dealing with an issue as complex and politically charged as our nation’s immigration laws.”

The bill is unlikely to advance, but it would put Republicans — and vulnerable Senate Democrats looking to defend their seats in the upper chamber — on the record on an issue top of mind for many voters ahead of November’s election.

"Last night, the President called both Leader McConnell and Speaker Johnson and urged them to go forward with our bill," Schumer said on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, signaling the importance of getting the bill passed. "All those who say we need to act on the border will get a chance this week to show they're serious about fixing the problem."

In a statement, the White House said that Biden spoke with the two leaders on Monday, adding that the president "reiterated that Congressional Republicans should stop playing politics and act quickly to pass this bipartisan border legislation that would add thousands of Border Patrol agents and personnel, invest in technology to catch fentanyl and combat drug trafficking, and make our country safe."

But McConnell appeared to be unmoved by Biden's urging, saying on the Senate floor on Tuesday that "the quickest way" for him to enact policy changes at the border is to use executive authority, notably by reviving the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy and restarting construction of a southern border wall.

"Any of our Democratic colleagues who recognize that the President must act ought to start telling him so," he said. "It’s time for the Biden administration to start exercising its immense authority to restore sanity and start cleaning up the mess at our southern border."

House Republican leadership on Monday declared the bill “dead on arrival” in the GOP-controlled lower chamber, accusing Schumer of “trying to give his vulnerable members cover” and calling for the Senate to pass its package of border security restrictions known as the Secure the Border Act, or H.R. 2.

“Should it reach the House, the bill would be dead on arrival,” House Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team said of the bipartisan border bill, later adding: “If Senate Democrats were actually serious about solving the problem and ending the border catastrophe, they would bring up H.R. 2 and pass it this week.”

But the White House urged the Senate to pass the bill, calling it “the toughest and fairest set of reforms in decades.”

“We strongly support this legislation and call on every Senator to put partisan politics aside and vote to secure the border,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on Monday.