Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said the Senate bipartisan border bill should be shelved and the issue saved for the upcoming election in November when lawmakers need to "let the American people decide."
Until then, Jordan said in a Fox Business interview Monday, the U.S. needs a "time out" on the southern border, and he has the one sentence that could do it.
"One sentence: No money can be used to process or release into the country any new migrants," Jordan said.
It's the exact sentence that Jordan proposed to Newsmax in December.
Jordan was critiquing the $118 billion border bill that has landed with a thud to Republicans in the House.
"Joe Biden is not going to fix a problem that he purposely created," Jordan said.
"Let's say 'time out' and let the American people decide how we want to deal with this in November, when we have President [Donald] Trump — who actually had control of our border — against President Biden," Jordan said. "Let the country decide."
Trump told Newsmax on Monday the bill is nothing but a "Democrat trap."
"It's a trap for Republicans that would be so stupid, so foolish to sign a bill like this. This bill can't be signed," Trump said in an exclusive interview with Newsmax host Rob Schmitt.
"It's not only that, it's massive amounts of money going out of town, as we say … billions, and billions and billions of dollars, and it's so bad on the border. I've never seen anything like it. Actually, it's one of the dumbest bills I've ever seen," Trump added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the bill "dead on arrival" before the text even came out. On Sunday night, Johnson said the bill is "even worse than we expected."
House Republicans were demanding policies from the H.R.2 bill they passed last May, or at least a reasonable facsimile of their legislation. Not even close, they said.
"House Republicans oppose the Senate immigration bill because it fails in every policy area needed to secure our border and would actually incentivize more illegal immigration," Johnson and his leadership team said in a statement Monday.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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