Speaker Mike Johnson calls Ukraine-immigration deal ‘dead on arrival’ in House

House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a “Dear Colleague” letter that an agreement being brokered in the Senate to restrict immigration in exchange for aid to Ukraine is “dead on arrival” in the House.

Mr Johnson sent the letter, obtained by The Independent, on Friday ahead of the House returning on Monday. While text of the Senate legislation has not been released, Mr Johnson said “if rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway.”

Many Republicans in the House of Representatives oppose providing additional aid to Ukraine and the House has not provided any more money to help the country push back against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assault on the country.

Rather, Mr Johnson said any legislation on immigration must have “transformative corrections” included in legislation that House Republicans support called HR 2, otherwise known as the Secure the Border Act.

“Since the day I became speaker, I have assured our Senate colleagues the House would not accept any counterproposal if it would not actually solve the problems that have been created by this administration’s subversive policies,” Mr Johnson wrote in the letter. The Washington Examiner first reported on the letter.

Earlier this month, House Republicans also said they would begin impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, which Mr Johnson’s letter mentioned.

“When we return next week, by necessity, the House Homeland Security Committee will move forward Articles of Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas,” he said. “A vote on the floor will be held as soon as possible thereafter.”

White House spokesman for oversight and investigations Iam Sams pushed back against the efforts to impeach the secretary.

“Such a silly claim. There’s no ‘necessity,’” he said on X. “In fact—since before they even took the majority, House Rs have been crowing about impeaching somebody…anybody…out of partisan political bloodlust.”

Former president Donald Trump criticised the potential agreement being brokered in the Senate on his Truth Social site. The former president said “we need a Strong, Powerful, and essentially “PERFECT” Border and, unless we get that, we are better off not making a Deal, even if that pushes our Country to temporarily “close up” for a while, because it will end up closing anyway with the unsustainable Invasion that is currently taking place.”