Sen. Ron Johnson, in a Newsmax interview, charged that President Joe Biden already has the authority to secure the southern border "because he used it to open it up."
The comments from the Wisconsin Republican came during a Tuesday appearance on "Wake Up America" as part of a discussion on the funding bill.
Johnson said Donald Trump, as president, was able to secure the border using existing laws.
"But the fact of the matter is President Biden wanted an open border, and that's exactly what he got, and unfortunately, it's very difficult to negotiate with an administration and Democrats in Congress that want an open border that caused the problem. They are primarily negotiating for political cover."
He noted the problems Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., encountered in trying to negotiate a bill both sides could endorse.
"It was almost an insurmountable hurdle that James Langford and Republicans had in trying to negotiate a real border security bill with them," Johnson said.
"Republicans want to secure the border, and that's the problem. This bill does not. It's going to codify things that we don't want codified. It's going to hamper a serious president of [the] future from actually securing the border.
"The public is going to be demanding a secure border that's going to put a lot of pressure on Democrat. You have to look at this bill and make sure it doesn't do more harm than good. And right now, as I read the bill, it's going to do more harm than good.
"But you know the secret negotiations were destined to fail because you're negotiating with arsonists to try and put out their fire. It makes no sense whatsoever. This was destined to fail."
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Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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