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As the White House negotiates a deal on border security legislation with the Democrat-held Senate, it’s having a standoff with the House of Representatives over who has the ability to solve the migrant crisis in the first place. 

Signaling he’s ready to reject the bipartisan compromise, which is still being worked on, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has told President Biden on several occasions that the president has the unilateral authority to enforce existing border and immigration policy. 

Biden officials, however, argue that the legislative route through Congress will afford a more comprehensive and permanent solution.

Fox News Digital spoke with several experts who were similarly split over where the real power to fix the crisis lies. Those who believed it was on Congress cited its constitutional role in setting U.S. policy.

BORDER DEAL PRICE TAG LIKELY TO COST MORE THAN $14 BILLION, BUT GOP LAWMAKERS GROW RESTLESS TO SEE BILL TEXT

“U.S. immigration law is clearly a federal matter. Both Congress and the Executive Branch have roles to play,” said Erin B. Corcoran, executive director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

“However, any permanent changes to federal laws or funding for immigration enforcement is the responsibility of Congress. Our immigration system is in need of significant congressional reform, and such reform must come from Congress.”

Corcoran pointed out that Congress has control over issues of legal permanent status and citizenship, and the president acts on authorities granted by Congress.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director of the American Immigration Council, similarly argued the president could not unilaterally cut off immigration at the border.

TEXAS-BOUND ‘TAKE OUR BORDER BACK’ CONVOY TO ‘SHED LIGHT’ ON MIGRANT CRISIS, ‘SEND A MESSAGE’ TO LEADERS

“The reality is that without Congress providing new authorities and a massive increase in funding, no president can either detain all migrants crossing or return them across the border,” he said. “Even if Congress did provide those authorities, diplomatic realities can prevent their use. For example, if Mexico declined to accept individuals expelled from the United States, then an expulsion authority would have little impact.”

Josh Blackman, professor of law at the South Texas College of Law Houston, argued it was a mixture of efforts by both branches.

“The president could enforce the existing laws more aggressively to deal with the situation at the border. Permanent legislation would likely be an improvement,” he said.

On the other side of the conversation, those who believe Biden has the power to act cited his past executive actions and policy decisions on immigration and other matters.

“There is no question that President Biden can do more on the border and that his policies, and past statements, have fueled this crisis,” Fox News contributor and Georgetown University law professor Jonathan Turley said. “On issues like student loan forgiveness, the administration has shown endless creativity and energy in seeking its ends… Immediately upon taking office, President Biden stopped measures and policies that were designed to stem the flow of unlawful immigrants.”

TRUMP BLASTS BIDEN-BACKED BORDER BILL AT LAS VEGAS RALLY: ‘RATHER HAVE NO BILL THAN A BAD BILL’

Though Turley added, “A border bill would certainly enhance such efforts with added immigration judges, border agents, and barriers.”

Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky said, “The president has all of the power and authority he needs already under current immigration law to secure the border. It is his deliberate and intentional policies of refusing to enforce those laws that are causing the current crisis.”

“That includes unlawfully giving mass parole to illegal aliens entering the country instead of immediately expelling them; reinstating the ‘catch and release’ policy that was ended by the Trump administration; and terminating the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy that was helping to prevent fraudulent asylum claims,” he said.

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The White House and speaker’s office traded barbs over the issue as recently as Monday. 

Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a memo saying, “If Speaker Johnson continues to believe — as President Biden and Republicans and Democrats in Congress do — that we have an imperative to act immediately on the border, he should give this administration the authority and funding we’re requesting to secure the border.”

Johnson’s spokesman told Fox News Digital in response, “With the stroke of a pen, he could begin by restoring Remain in Mexico, ending catch and release, reforming asylum, and parole standards. His refusal places our national sovereignty at stake.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said there are “different definitions” of what it means to shut down the border when pressed if President Biden’s recent immigration rhetoric is any different from comments then-President Donald Trump made in 2018 which critics as “racist.” 

“Back in the winter of 2018 and the spring of 2019, President Trump vowed to shut down the border with Mexico using almost the identical language that the president used on Friday. Many, many, if not most, if not practically all Democrats called that xenophobic and even racist. Why shouldn’t people make the same conclusion about this president’s threat to shut down the entire border with Mexico?” a reporter asked the press secretary Monday. 

“We believe the new enforcement tools that currently don’t exist that we believe will be part of this bipartisan agreement, will be fair. We believe … it’ll be tough, but it will be fair,” Jean-Pierre responded. 

She was then pressed that Biden did not say last week that the administration would use “enhanced enforcement to improve the processing of people at the border,” instead he was much stronger and said he would shut the border down. 

FLASHBACK: TRUMP’S BORDER WALL WAS CALLED ‘RACIST’ AND ‘ANTI-IMMIGRANT’ BY LIBERAL MEDIA FOR YEARS

“Why isn’t that the same thing that Trump did?” the reporter questioned after short back and forth with Jean-Pierre. 

“There are different definitions, right, of what that looks like. Of what actually shutting down the border looks like, right? So we’re going to let them work through it. We don’t know what that looks like exactly. What we are asking for, what the president wants to see, is that we deal with the challenges at the border. That we have an opportunity to deal with what’s going on, the security, and make sure that we have the funding and the resources to deal with what we’re seeing at the border,” she responded. 

“There are different definitions to what that looks like.” 

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ACCUSED OF HYPOCRISY FOR PROPOSING BORDER WALL AMID MIGRANT CRISIS

Biden on Friday vowed to “shut down the border” if Congress passes a bipartisan immigration deal he said would give him the “emergency authority” to stop the rush of migrants that have been flooding the border during his administration. 

“For too long, we all know the border’s been broken,” he said. “It’s long past time to fix it.”

“What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said. “It would give me, as president, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

BIDEN PROMISES TO ‘SHUT DOWN’ BORDER IF CONGRESS APPROVES BILL GOP CLAIMS WOULD ‘INCENTIVIZE ILLEGAL ALIENS’

Trump was slammed by Democrats and other critics as a “racist” in November of 2018 and again in March of 2019 for threatening to shut down the border if Mexico didn’t stop people from illegally crossing into the U.S. 

“We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with. Hard to believe there was a Congress & President who would approve!” Trump said amid a series of tweets in 2018. 

“If Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week,” Trump again tweeted in 2019. 

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Critics launched attacks that such a plan was racist, including the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2019, which argued the plan was “illegal” and accused Trump of “using scare tactics to paint lawful immigration as a security threat.”

A clip of likely Senate candidate Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., supporting DACA policies resurfaced over the weekend, garnering mixed reactions from Republicans on social media.

Montana’s Republican Senate race is expected to heat up soon with Rosendale considering a primary run against former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, who is backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), for the nomination. Amid talk of a likely competition between the two, Republican voters and individuals close to former President Donald Trump’s campaign appear to already be taking sides in the potential primary race.

During a 2018 Montana Senate debate, Rosendale was asked if the United States should deport all illegal immigrants in America.

“I don’t think it’s feasible to say we’re going to deport all of the illegal immigrants that are here,” Rosendale said, adding that he believes minors who were brought here without consent should be given “a path with which they can become citizens.”

GOP CANDIDATE COMPARED DEPORTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO NAZIS, ‘NOT OPPOSED’ TO FAST-TRACKING DACA CITIZENSHIP

Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an immigration policy that allows migrants who were brought into the U.S. as minors to be given a pathway to citizenship, has been controversial among the GOP base. Trump tried to terminate the program during his presidency, but the Supreme Court ruled that his decision violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

AMNESTY REMAINS PRIORITY FOR BIDEN ADMIN, DEMOCRATS EVEN AMID RECORD BORDER NUMBERS

As several million illegal migrants have crossed the southern border during the Biden administration, the issue of immigration is likely to play a pivotal role in nationwide elections.

Kaelan Dorr, who served in the Trump administration, posted the initial flashback clip and bashed Rosendale for the “bombshell” comment. Dorr wrote that Rosendale “opposed deporting illegals,” after the GOP lawmaker stated that he supported a pathway to citizenship for specifically migrant minors. 

The clip of the comment, posted on X, revealed the divide between the GOP in a potential Montana Senate primary race.

“If you’re a ‘Republican’ who advocates for amnesty you are most definitely not a MAGA-Republican,” Alex Bruesewitz, a political consultant and close ally of former President Trump, said in a repost of the clip. “I’m glad the posers are all being exposed this year.”

“#Nobodycares Shanghai Sheehy is still a warmongerer & a RINO,” Caroline Wren, a political operative with ties to Trump world, responded to the video, blasting Sheehy.

Ryan Girdusky, the founder of the 1776 Project PAC, posted on social media that Dorr’s characterization of Rosendale is “literally horse—-” and said Rosendale made the comments after “Trump endorsed the DACA Amnesty… following the lead of the man that Kaelan would never criticize.”

“This is a gross smear by cowards and liars,” Girdusky added.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who endorsed Trump for the presidency, campaigned with Rosendale over the weekend in Montana. 

“I’m going to campaign for Matt Rosendale because he’s exactly the shock to the system the Senate needs. Also, I hear Montana is lovely in January,” Gaetz told Fox News Digital of the events.

Rosendale has confirmed he is considering a run for the Montana Senate and has already held several campaign events, but has not yet made any official announcements.

Earlier this month,Rosendale introduced a broad immigration package that includes measures to “shut down the border” and reverse key Biden-era policies that Republicans blame for the historic crisis at the southern border.

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The package introduces or reintroduces five bills that would limit entry into the U.S., restore Trump policies that Republicans have credited for slowing illegal immigration and limit the effects of immigration on the U.S.

“Biden is destroying our country with his open border policies,” Rosendale said in a statement. “My immigration bills will set the proper mechanisms in place to shut down the border, give DHS the tools to pursue criminals evading border checkpoints, encourage American companies to hire American employees, protect taxpayer dollars by only counting citizens in the census and require those waiting on an immigration hearing to wait in Mexico.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Rosendale campaign for comment. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a stark message to sanctuary cities on Monday, vowing his state’s transportation of migrants to their areas would continue until the federal government takes action on the worsening border crisis.

“Texas has transported over 102,000 migrants to sanctuary cities. Overwhelmed Texas border towns should not bear the brunt of Biden’s open border policies. Our transportation mission will continue until Biden secures the border,” Abbott wrote in a post on X.

Abbott’s promise comes amid his feud with the Biden administration over enforcement of the border, and whether Texas has the authority to defend itself from the waves of migrants overwhelming law enforcement and immigration officials.

WHITE HOUSE DEMANDS SPEAKER JOHNSON GIVE BIDEN ‘AUTHORITY AND FUNDING’ TO ‘SECURE THE BORDER’

The two sides have been feuding since 2021 when the migrant crisis escalated and Texas launched Operation Lone Star to surge resources to the border. 

The administration recently sued over an anti-illegal immigration law that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants. It has also sued over the state’s setting up of buoys in the Rio Grande. The administration says immigration enforcement is up to the federal government and Texas is interfering. 

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision on an emergency appeal to temporarily overturn a lower court’s injunction that banned the federal government from cutting razor fencing Texas had installed along the border near Eagle Pass while litigation continues.

TEXAS GOVERNOR DOING ‘EXACTLY RIGHT THING’ AMID CONSTITUTIONAL BATTLE OVER BORDER ENFORCEMENT: LEGAL EXPERTS

Following the ruling, Abbott declared his constitutional authority to reserve the right of his state to self-defense against an invasion, adding that the executive branch had broken its constitutional pact with the states by failing to enforce federal immigration laws. 

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday gave his backing to Abbott amid the latter’s feud with the Biden administration — urging states to send their National Guards to the border and promising to work “hand in hand” with the state to combat the “invasion” if he is inaugurated again in January 2025.

DID BIDEN INTENTIONALLY CAUSE THE BORDER CRISIS?

Abbott has also picked up the support of more than two dozen Republican states who have publicly expressed their support for the state. Meanwhile, some Democrats have urged the Biden administration to seize control of the National Guard.

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Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.

Gina Swoboda, an election activist endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has been chosen as the next chair of the Arizona Republican Party, a leadership post that puts her center stage in the battleground state for November’s presidential election.

Fox10 television in Phoenix reported that Swoboda garnered 67% of the votes at Saturday’s state party meeting. The GOP declined to confirm that margin of victory to The Associated Press.

VENTURE CAPITALIST, CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND RAISES EYE-POPPING AMOUNT IN BID FOR ARIZONA HOUSE SEAT

Swoboda replaces Jeff DeWit, who was halfway through his two-year term. He resigned Wednesday after a leaked audio recording revealed him offering a job to U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake and asking her to name a price that would keep her out of the 2024 election cycle.

At the time of the recording last March, Lake was waging an unsuccessful court fight challenging her loss in the 2022 race for Arizona governor even as she geared up for the U.S. Senate campaign. Meanwhile, Republicans in Washington, bruised by a disappointing showing in the midterms, were talking openly about plans to seek GOP Senate nominees who would be more viable in general elections.

DeWit was chief operating officer for Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns and chief financial officer at NASA during the Trump presidency.

He was seen as a trusted and experienced operative who could bridge the bitter divide between Trump loyalists and old guard Republicans in Arizona, many of whom were brought into the party by the late Sen. John McCain.

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Swoboda is a former employee of the Arizona Secretary of State’s office and was the election day director of operations for Trump in 2020. She has been working for the Arizona Senate as a senior adviser on elections.

Lake, who is running for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat, congratulated Swoboda and called her win a “massive victory” for her campaign and Trump’s.

“Gina is a national leader in election law. She is a grassroots hero … is battle tested and a woman of great integrity,” Lake said in a statement. “Gina understands that the White House and Senate Majority —and frankly, the survival of our Republic — runs through State 48.”

• Tom Campbell, a former state senator, has announced his campaign for North Dakota’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Campbell, who served in the North Dakota Senate from 2012 to 2018, is the second Republican to enter the House race.
• In 2018, Campbell withdrew from a previous bid for the at-large House seat, having initially shifted from a U.S. Senate race.

A potato farmer and former state senator has announced his campaign for North Dakota’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, after initially eyeing a run for governor.

Tom Campbell, of Grafton, is the second Republican in the House race. He served in the North Dakota Senate from 2012 to 2018. Campbell previously ran for the at-large seat in 2018 after switching from the state’s U.S. Senate race, but he withdrew before the crowded GOP primary election that year.

“North Dakota needs a Congressman who can be effective and can work with President Trump,” Campbell said in a Facebook announcement Friday. “We have to be pro-oil, pro-farmer, pro-business, and pro-people.”

NORTH DAKOTA GOV. DOUG BURGUM, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, WON’T SEEK THIRD TERM

Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong, an attorney, is running for governor, opening up the House seat. Republican Gov. Doug Burgum is not seeking a third term.

In an interview, Campbell said he met with Armstrong to discuss the elections, saying the two of them running for governor would “get very expensive, very ugly,” and suggesting they work together in their different campaigns.

NORTH DAKOTA REP. ON THE IMPORTANCE OF STATE’S ENERGY INDUSTRIES

Former state Rep. Rick Becker, a plastic surgeon, is the other Republican running for the House seat. Democrat Trygve Hammer, a military veteran, also is running.

Republicans hold all of North Dakota’s statewide elected offices and congressional seats and control the Legislature.

Charles Littlejohn, the ex-IRS contractor responsible for leaking former President Trump’s tax returns, was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday.

Judge Ana Reyes condemned Littlejohn’s actions when handing down the sentence, saying the leak was “an intolerable attack on our constitutional democracy.” The sentence also includes 36 months of supervised release and a $5,000 fine.

“The press tells us Democracy dies in darkness. It also dies in lawlessness,” the judge said. “There are numerous lawful means to bring things to light. Trump was under no obligation to expose his returns. People could vote for someone else. They could run against him.”

Federal prosecutors said Littlejohn sought his job as an IRS consultant specifically for the purpose of leaking Trump’s returns in 2019. Littlejohn had done work for Booz Allen from 2008 to 2013, but he returned to the company as an IRS consultant in 2017. Prosecutors say the career move was meant to grant him access to private tax information that would allow him to leak Trump’s tax returns. The DOJ says Littlejohn considered Trump to be a threat to democracy.

“[Littlejohn] weaponized his access to unmasked taxpayer data to further his own personal political agenda, believing that he was above the law,” prosecutors alleged during the trial.

IRS CONSULTANT PLEADS GUILTY FOR LEAKING TAX RETURNS OF TRUMP AND NATION’S ‘WEALTHIEST INDIVIDUALS’ TO MEDIA

“A free press and public engagement with the media are critical to any healthy democracy, but stealing and leaking private, personal tax information strips individuals of the legal protection of their most sensitive data,” they added.

Judge Reyes echoed prosecutors’ words when handing down the sentence, saying Littlejohn had clearly concocted a long-term plan to violate Trump’s privacy.

“He did not make a snap judgment. He made a series of decisions. This court cannot let others view this conduct as acceptable. I need to send the strongest possible message that we are a nation of laws,” Reyes said Monday.

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Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.

E. Jean Carroll, a former columnist who alleges former President Trump raped her in a New York City department store dressing room in the 1990s, has teased how she plans to spend the $83.3 million judgment she won in her defamation case if and when she sees those funds. 

“I’m not going to waste a cent of this,” Carroll told the New York Times from her lawyer’s office Saturday. “We’re going to do something good with it.”

“I’m going to be able to buy some premium dog food now,” she added, promising at least some luxury for her pets, a Great Pyrenees and a pit bull. 

The interview was her first since a jury on Friday found that Trump had maliciously damaged Carroll’s reputation in 2019 after she went public with her accusations, and he insisted she was lying. Jurors awarded her $18 million to compensate for the personal harm she experienced, then added $65 million more to punish Trump – and maybe deter social media attacks. 

E. JEAN CARROLL’S CLAIMS AGAINST TRUMP, LIFESTYLE BACK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT AFTER EYE-POPPING VERDICT

A different jury concluded last May that Trump was responsible for sexually abusing Carroll in the Bergdorf Goodman store’s dressing room on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in 1996. Those jurors awarded Carroll $5 million. If both judgments stand, Trump would owe her a total of $88.3 million. Trump and his lawyers have promised to appeal.

As she and her lawyers prepare to fight the promised appeals and push for the full judgment to be awarded, Carroll said they are also making plans for what to do with the money. 

“I can’t say what they are yet. We will all talk and come up with a great plan,” she told the Times. 

“I can’t possibly guess what Donald Trump will ever do or not do,” Carroll said Saturday, asked what she thinks will come next. “Can’t make a guess.”

Carroll told the Times the feeling upon learning the amount of the sum “was so overpowering,” and that she “couldn’t feel the elation.”

“This morning, around 8 or 9, having my first cup of tea, is when I truly felt calm enough to feel what we had accomplished,” Caroll said. “I felt they were my brothers and sisters on that jury,” she added. “They were like me. They were New Yorkers.”

Carroll’s lead lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, claimed to the Times that Trump might think twice about attacking Carroll on Truth Social after Friday’s decision. 

TRUMP CANNOT ASSERT PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY IN E JEAN CARROLL DEFAMATION LAWSUIT, APPEALS COURT RULES

“He cares about money,” Kaplan said. “And this is a lot of money to Donald Trump. And I don’t think he wants another judgment at the same amount.” 

“Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after the verdict was read on Friday. “Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights.”

Carroll referenced the issue of abortion access after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, claiming her win against Trump was for all women. 

“This win, more than any other thing, when we needed it the most — after we lost the rights over our own bodies in many states — we put out our flag in the ground on this one. Women won this one. I think it bodes well for the future,” she said. 

Carroll sued Trump for defamation in 2019, saying his statements about her rape allegations were false and damaged her reputation. That claim wound up being bogged down for years over the legal question of whether, in denying the allegations, Trump had been fulfilling his duties as president. Trump claimed that the presidency shield him from liability.

In the meantime, New York changed its law to give sexual abuse survivors a fresh chance to sue civilly over attacks that happened in the distant past. Carroll was one of the first people to take advantage, filing a new legal claim against Trump alleging that he had raped her. She also sued over things he had said about her after leaving the White House.

Trump was not criminally charged with sexually assaulting Carroll. Under state law, too much time had passed since the alleged assault in 1996 for a criminal case to be considered against him.

Amid court proceedings and immediately following, supporters of the president and social media critics have sounded off about previous remarks Carroll has made that raised concerns about her recounting, including her 2019 interview on CNN, where she argued “most people” view rape as “sexy.”

Trump, along with his supporters, have argued his hands were tied amid the trial as the judge barred some evidence from being shown to the jury, including the Anderson Cooper interview. 

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Trump said in a Truth Social post Thursday that Carroll allegedly changed the timeline of her recounting of the incident due to previously claiming that she still had the Donna Karan dress she wore the day of the attack, though the dress had not yet been manufactured. The judge presiding over the case also barred Trump’s legal team from arguing he did not sexually assault Carroll, or “that she fabricated her account of the assault, or that she had any motive to do so.” 

During last year’s trial, Trump’s legal team and critics drew parallels between Carroll’s allegations and an episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” which included a plot line where a character discussed role-playing a rape fantasy in Bergdorf Goodman. Carroll said during last year’s trial that she was “aware” of the 2012 episode, but had not seen it.

Fox News’ Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The White House is going after House Speaker Mike Johnson’s posture on the ongoing border security and supplemental funding talks in a new public memo on Monday morning.

It comes after Johnson took a swipe at President Biden’s endorsement of those negotiations, arguing it was the Democratic administration’s policies and executive actions, not current law, fueling the border crisis.

“Until recently, Speaker Johnson advocated for HR2 because, in his view, presidents needed new legal authorities in order to secure the border,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, referencing the border security bill that Democrats have called a nonstarter. “What’s more, the Trump Administration argued the same – with the full-throated endorsement of then Congressman Mike Johnson.”

“If Speaker Johnson continues to believe – as President Biden and Republicans and Democrats in Congress do – that we have an imperative to act immediately on the border, he should give this administration the authority and funding we’re requesting to secure the border,” Jean-Pierre said.

BORDER DEAL PRICE TAG LIKELY TO COST MORE THAN $14 BILLION, BUT GOP LAWMAKERS GROW RESTLESS TO SEE BILL TEXT

Johnson spokesman Raj Shah hit back at Jean-Pierre, maintaining that Johnson has remained consistent that “national security starts at our own border.”

“The Secure the Border Act would codify this principle into federal law and he continues to strongly urge the Senate and President to support it or similar legislation,” Shah told Fox News Digital.

“But make no mistake, President Biden pledged on Friday to ‘shut down the border.’ However, with the stroke of a pen, he could begin by restoring Remain in Mexico, ending catch and release, reforming asylum, and parole standards. His refusal places our national sovereignty at stake.”

Biden promised on Friday that he would “shut down the border” if the proposal being worked on in the Senate became law. 

Johnson said in response, “President Biden falsely claimed yesterday he needs Congress to pass a new law to allow him to close the southern border, but he knows that is untrue.”

TEXAS-BOUND ‘TAKE OUR BORDER BACK’ CONVOY TO ‘SHED LIGHT’ ON MIGRANT CRISIS, ‘SEND A MESSAGE’ TO LEADERS

The speaker wrote Biden a letter late last year calling on him to take executive action on the border.

“As my letter stated, President Biden can begin to secure the border by ending catch-and-release, ceasing exploitation of parole authority, reinstating the Remain in Mexico program, expanding the use of expedited removal authority, and renewing construction of the border wall,” Johnson said Friday.

TRUMP BLASTS BIDEN-BACKED BORDER BILL AT LAS VEGAS RALLY: ‘RATHER HAVE NO BILL THAN A BAD BILL’

“The President must start by using the broad legal authority he already possesses to reclaim our nation’s sovereignty and end the mass release of illegal aliens into our country,” Johnson added.

Jean-Pierre’s Monday memo pointed out that Johnson’s letter also said, “Statutory reforms designed to restore operational control at our southern border must be enacted.”

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She also referenced past comments by then-President Trump calling on Democrats to pass border and immigration reform and close “loopholes” in the system.

A bipartisan group of senators has been negotiating with the Biden administration for weeks on measures to stymie the ongoing migrant crisis. Republicans in the House and Senate have said such reforms are critical to their support for Democrats’ $106 billion supplemental funding request with money for Ukraine, Israel and other issues.

A former Green Beret running for Congress in North Carolina is taking aim at President Biden’s handling of his duties as commander in chief while stressing the need for more veterans to be elected to higher office.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Pat Harrigan, a former U.S. Army officer, firearms business owner and Republican candidate for North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District, said Biden’s failures were one of the main things that drove him to enter the race.

“I’m incredibly concerned for the future of our country. With the fall of Afghanistan – being a West Point graduate and a former Green Beret who spent a little over 18 months in Afghanistan – I honestly could not believe how we could have a criminally incompetent chief executive lead the exit and lead the failure of Afghanistan the way that it happened,” Harrigan said.

HALEY TAKES AIM AT CONFUSED’ TRUMP’S MENTAL STATE IN VIDEO RAILING AGAINST NEW YORK COURT PROCEEDINGS

“It’s just absolutely catastrophic for America… We have to go to Washington and make some change and make it very quickly, or this world is going to devolve into a place that I don’t think any American has ever truly experienced,” he said.

Harrigan first ran unsuccessfully for Congress in North Carolina’s Democrat-leaning 14th Congressional District in 2022. After graduating from West Point and being commissioned as an Army officer in 2009, he joined the infantry and completed Ranger School before being assigned to a Special Forces unit at a small combat outpost in Afghanistan.

“I was in the Arghandab Valley up north of Kandahar, 23 years old. I was leading almost 400 Americans and Afghans all by myself. I had nobody over me for about 65 or 70 miles away, and so I really got to kind of create my own adventure, cut my teeth, during some pretty significant combat operations,” he explained.

HALEY FACES GROWING CALLS TO LEAVE 2024 RACE AS RNC NEARLY CONSIDERS DECLARING TRUMP THE PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE

Harrigan said the experience gave him a “leadership perspective” to understand what’s at stake across the world, and why America’s strategic interests actually “secure the American way of life.”

“We’ve done a terrible job of doing that in the last 20 years. I think we can do it much, much better. And I think… that when America fails to lead, the world burns and, boy, the world is burning today,” he said. 

“We just need principled leaders of character to return to Congress. We need veterans to return to Congress,” he said, noting the small percentage of veterans serving in Congress today and how it contrasts to the times following World War II when a majority of members had military experience.

HALEY CAMPAIGN LASHES OUT AT RNC, RONNA MCDANIEL OVER RESOLUTION TO DECLARE TRUMP PRESUMPTIVE GOP NOMINEE

“If we don’t have veterans at the helm, if we just have more go along to get along, same old, same old lawyers, term career politicians who are just climbing the political ladder to the next level in Washington, D.C., we’re going to have the same old problems that we’ve always had,” he said.

During his time in the military, Harrigan opened a small firearms business that he ran out of his double-wide trailer home, first selling to just friends and family before it became popular and outgrew his family’s kitchen table.

“My last deployment to Afghanistan, my wife actually built a warehouse behind the double-wide, and by the time I got back, that warehouse was built, and we’d already grown out of it. So my wife was an intricate part of our ascent into the business world,” he said.

Harrigan explained that his business now operates out of a 120,000-square-foot facility on about 80 acres, does “everything underneath the small arms umbrella, from gun parts to complete firearms themselves,” and produces about 1,000 guns a week.

VENTURE CAPITALIST, CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND RAISES EYE-POPPING AMOUNT IN BID FOR ARIZONA HOUSE SEAT

He says operating a small business has made him “incredibly passionate” about American manufacturing, and that it’s important to have “vibrant” production in the U.S. He added that his own small business story was “a testament to the conditions that are set by the right frame of government, an economic system that allows people to go out and create their own success stories.”

If elected in November, Harrigan said the first issue he would want to address is the crisis at the southern border.

“That southern border needs to close immediately. And I’ve been saying this for years: President Trump’s position on the border, which is to create a massive wall in order to safeguard our domestic security, should be our one and only priority. We have got to protect this nation,” he said.

“I think it’s very clear the American people need that border shutdown. We have 300,000 people a month coming across that border. We do not know who they are. We do not know what their intentions are. We know that we have dozens and dozens and dozens of folks on the terrorist watch list who have just walked across our leaky southern border, and that’s got to stop,” he added.

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Harrigan faces a crowded Republican primary field that includes state Rep. Grey Mills Jr., activist Brooke McGowan, entrepreneur Charles Eller and nurse Diana Jimison.

Considering the district’s conservative leaning, the primary winner will likely replace Rep. Patrick McHenry, who served briefly as speaker pro tempore of the House following House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster last October.

McHenry announced in December he would not seek re-election.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

A Pennsylvania Democrat who’s facing a tough reelection battle this year said recently that she was “dismayed” to find out she would be representing a county that strongly supports former President Donald Trump following redistricting efforts in the state.

In a recent Zoom call, Rep. Susan Wild recalled how she felt when she learned that her constituency would include a county that “drank the Trump Kool-Aid” after the electoral boundaries for her congressional district were redrawn in 2022.

The comments from Wild, who has represented the Keystone State’s 7th Congressional District since 2018, came during a conversation with four other Democrats who represent portions of Pennsylvania at the federal level, including vulnerable House Democrat Matt Cartwright and Sen. Bob Casey.

JAYAPAL, OTHER DEMS WITH CONTROVERSIAL ISRAEL POSITIONS SHOWER FELLOW DEMS WITH CAMPAIGN CASH

“I acquired Carbon County as part of my district last year and Matt did not then represent it. Matt had actually represented Carbon County in the past, so it was very valuable for me in terms of talking to him,” she said. “After Trump came along, it went from a sort of working-class blue district to a – they drank the Trump Kool-Aid – and it really became a red county. So, I was dismayed when I got that as part of my district.”

Carbon County, a GOP stronghold that backed Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections by 2 to 1 margins, was added to Wild’s district after the state redrew its congressional boundaries based on the 2020 census and gave Republicans a favorable chance in 2022.

Despite the end result of the redistricting process, Wild narrowly defeated her Republican challenger in the state’s 2022 midterm elections, garnering a little more than 151,000 votes compared to Lisa Scheller’s 145,527 votes.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Wild said, “It’s the honor of my lifetime to represent Carbon County in Congress and am grateful for the partnership I have with my constituents there. The first thing I did upon representing Carbon County was open an office in Lehighton so I could assist as many constituents as possible in dealing with federal agencies.”

“I’ll continue to work tirelessly on their behalf,” she added.

SUSAN WILD COMPARES SUPREME COURT PRAYER DECISION TO TALIBAN, CALLS FOR COURT-PACKING

The recent remarks from Wild, who previously served as chair of the House Ethics Committee, come after she said a few years ago that she “might have to school” the same rural Trump voters in order to win their support.

During a virtual meet and greet in July 2022, Wild said the Republican voters of Carbon County may need to be educated on the error of their ways.

“Carbon County has many attributes, but it is a county that – although it was once an Obama county – it since has become a Trump county,” she said at the time. “I’m not quite sure what was in their heads because the people of Carbon County are exactly the kind of people who should not be voting for a Donald Trump, but I guess I might have to school them on that a little bit.”

“But most of all, it is a very rural county,” she added.

Prior to her winning reelection to the House in Nov. 2022, the congresswoman and attorney of over three decades raised eyebrows the same month after she compared the Supreme Court’s ruling allowing prayer back in public schools to the Taliban.

“It’s scary. This is what happens in theocracies,” she said during a July 2022 radio interview. “This is what happens in countries that we can’t imagine living in or being a part of – where the religion – you know, think about the Taliban.”

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A Fox News Digital review of campaign finance records last month revealed that several Democrats who refused to condemn Hamas’ actions against Israel had worked to shower Wild’s campaign with more than $47,000 since 2020. Each donation ranged between $250 and $10,000.

Fox News’ Jessica Chasmar and Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report.

As former Trump senior adviser Peter Navarro faces a prison sentence for flouting a congressional subpoena, one prominent legal expert is calling foul, pointing what he sees as a double standard by the Justice Department.

Peter Navarro, who served in the White House under former President Donald Trump, was sentenced Thursday for flouting a House Jan. 6 Committee subpoena. 

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Navarro to four months in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of $9,500. 

The punishment is two months shorter than the six months prosecutors sought, with the fine being significantly lower than the $200,000 sought by the Biden-Garland Justice Department. 

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES NEW RESOURCES TO COMBAT VIOLENT CRIME IN DC

Navarro’s sentencing has raised questions about whether Biden’s DOJ would pursue similar charges against the president’s son, Hunter, whom two House committees also held in contempt for defying a lawful congressional subpoena.

John Shu, a constitutional law expert who served in both the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush administrations, told Fox News Digital in an interview that because Hunter’s lawyers are still communicating with lawmakers and the entire House of Representatives has not yet found him in contempt, the scenarios are not perfectly synonymous. 

However, Shu, added, the DOJ’s convicting and sentencing Navarro, and former Trump aid Steve Bannon in 2022, look terrible for Biden’s DOJ because, prior to 2022, the DOJ has not prosecuted anyone for defying a congressional subpoena since the Watergate era, including in 2012, when Congress held former Obama attorney general Eric Holder in contempt.  

“The Biden DOJ did not offer a sweetheart plea deal to either Navarro or Bannon as it did to Hunter Biden in July 2023,” Shu noted, “and therefore it adds to the perception that it is biased and treats right-wing defendants more harshly than left-wing ones.  

“It’s a terrible look, regardless of whether it is true or deserved.” Shu said.

Shu added that while he believes Navarro’s legal defense asserting executive privilege was “weak because executive privilege belongs to the office, not the person,” the DOJ has treated with kid gloves individuals who committed more serious crimes but received lighter sentences.

Shu highlighted a list of individuals who committed more serious crimes, but earned a much lighter sentence from Biden’s DOJ.

For example, former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith received a sentence of 12 months probation and 400 hours of community service after he defrauded the government by forging a document used in the Trump-Russia scandal. 

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Clinesmith pleaded guilty to “one count of making a false statement within both the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch of the U.S. government, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.”

The D.C. District Court judge presiding over his case said at sentencing that, “[Clinesmith] lost his job, and his government service is what has given his life much of its meaning. He was also earning $150,000 a year and who knows where the earnings go now. He may be disbarred or suspended from the practice of law, you may never be able to work in the national security field again. These are substantial penalties.” 

The District of Columbia Bar Association reinstated Clinesmith’s law license before he finished his court-ordered community service. 

TRUMP WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL PETER NAVARRO SENTENCED TO 4 MONTHS FOR DEFYING JAN 6 SUBPOENA

Shu also highlighted the recent case of Charles Littlejohn, who illegally obtained and leaked Donald Trump’s tax returns along with 7,500 other tax returns of wealthy individuals, including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. 

“We’re talking about 7,500 felonies because each tax return is a felony, including that of Donald Trump. But the Biden DOJ allowed him to plead out to only one count.  In other words, leaking only one return instead of 7,500,” said Shu.  

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence the former IRS contractor to five years in prison. 

EX-FBI OFFICIAL WHO SHUT DOWN HUNTER BIDEN LINES OF INVESTIGATION VIOLATED HATCH ACT WITH ANTI-TRUMP POSTS

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“What if he had leaked Hillary Clinton’s or, God forbid, Hunter Biden’s tax returns?  He’d probably be grinding big rocks into little rocks for the rest of his life,” Shu commented.   

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report. 

A retired Republican judge is arguing that former President Donald Trump ought to be removed from Illinois’ primary ballot for allegedly engaging in an insurrection in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

Former longtime Kankakee County Judge Clark Erickson, acting as hearing officer on voters’ challenge to the former president’s eligibility, issued the recommendation to the Illinois State Officers Electoral Board, which is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats. 

Attorneys for Trump and citizens seeking to keep the Republican former president off the ballot presented their arguments before Erickson on Friday. The Illinois State Officers Electoral Board is expected to consider the recommendation on Tuesday.  

Erickson’s 21-page recommendation concluded that a “preponderance of the evidence” presented proves that Trump engaged in insurrection.

HALEY BLASTS RNC FOR RUSHING TO TRUMP AS NOMINEE, CALLS ON AMERICANS TO ‘REMEMBER WHAT NORMAL FELT LIKE’

But he said the election board can’t engage in the “significant and sophisticated constitutional analysis” required to remove Trump’s name before the March 19 primary. He said the decision should ultimately be left to the courts.

He likened the board’s attempt to resolve the constitutional question to “scheduling a two-minute round between heavyweight boxers in a telephone booth.” 

Still, Erickson noted that even if the board disagrees with his reasoning, Trump’s name should be removed from the Illinois primary ballot.

Free Speech for People, which is leading the Illinois ballot effort, praised Erickson’s recommendation as “significant” but argued that Illinois law allows the board to make the ballot decision.

“We expect that the board and ultimately Illinois courts will uphold Judge Erickson’s thoughtful analysis of why Trump is disqualified from office, but — with the greatest respect — correct him on why Illinois law authorizes that ruling,” Ron Fein, legal director for the group, wrote in a Sunday statement.

The Illinois saga echoes similar efforts in several other states. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next month in a historic Colorado Supreme Court ruling to remove Trump from that state’s ballot. 

The case presents the high court with its first look at a provision of the 14th Amendment barring some people who “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump shares his reaction on his social media platform, Truth Social, after three U.S. service members were killed and at least 25 others were injured in a drone attack on an outpost in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border on Sunday.

“The drone attack on a U.S. Military Installation in Jordan, killing 3 American Servicemembers, and wounding many more, marks a horrible day for America. My most profound sympathies go to the Families of the Brave Servicemembers we have lost,” Trump wrote.

He continued his first part of a three-part series, asking for all Americans to join him in praying for those who were wounded and calling out President Joe Biden and his flawed administration. 

“This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender,” Trump continued. “Three years ago, Iran was weak, broke, and totally under control. Thanks to my Maximum Pressure policy, the Iranian Regime could barely scrape two dollars together to fund their terrorist proxies. Then Joe Biden came in and gave Iran billions of dollars, which the Regime has used to spread bloodshed and carnage throughout the Middle East,” Trump posted.

3 AMERICAN TROOPS KILLED, 25 INJURED IN ATTACK ON JORDAN BASE NEAR SYRIA BORDER

A senior U.S. defense official told Fox News the injury toll could rise to higher than just 25 Americans.

“This attack would NEVER have happened if I was President, not even a chance – Just like the Iranian-backed Hamas attack on Israel would never have happened, the War in Ukraine would never have happened, and we would right now have Peace throughout the World. Instead, we are on the brink of World War 3,” Trump wrote.

In the wake of the attack, Republicans condemned Biden’s perceived inaction so far and some went farther, accusing the president of appeasing Iran. 

US WITHDRAWAL FROM SYRIA WOULD PUT ‘WHOLE REGION AT RISK,’ ALLOW IRAN TO ‘SOW’ MORE DISCORD, EXPERT WARNS

“Enough is enough. The Biden administration’s appeasement of Iran must end. It’s time for clear and decisive action, and Iran must be held accountable for the malign activities of its proxies,” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. 

“It’s long past time for President Biden to finally hold the terrorist Iranian regime and their extremist proxies accountable for the attacks they’ve carried out against U.S. and coalition forces,” Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said. 

Trump echoed the remarks of other Republicans, saying this day was further proof a change needs to be made.

TRUMP ADMIN CUT FUNDING TO UN AGENCY NOW ACCUSED OF PARTICIPATING IN HAMAS ATTACK ‘FOR REASON’: REP. MCCAUL

“This terrible day is yet more proof that we need an immediate return to PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, so that there will be no more chaos, no more destruction, and no more loss of precious American lives. Our Country cannot survive with Joe Biden as Commander in Chief,” Trump concluded. 

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This attack marked the first time U.S. troops have been killed by enemy fire in the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began.  

Fox News’ Sarah Tobianski contributed to this story. 

In response to accusations that staffers of a United Nations agency were allegedly involved in the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel, Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul reminded Americans that former President Donald Trump cut funding to the U.N. agency during his administration. 

“The United Nations Relief Agency, the previous Trump administration, cut all funding for a reason, just for this reason. The idea that UNRWA was actually supplying, you know, harboring weapons to assist with Hamas’ invasion of Israel,” McCaul told Fox News’ Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.” 

“Now, those are the allegations that have come out of Israel, we’re investigating, but if true, think how outrageous that is,” he continued. 

As of Saturday, the U.S., United Kingdom and other key Western powers cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is intended to provide relief and humanitarian services to Palestinian refugees, following accusations that 12 staffers with the group were “involved” in the October attack on Israel.

MORE COUNTRIES CUT FUNDING TO UN AGENCY AFTER STAFFERS ACCUSED OF PARTICIPATING IN OCT. 7 HAMAS ATTACK

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has since praised the U.S. decision as “an important step in holding UNRWA accountable.” 

The State Department under Trump cut ties with UNRWA in 2018, but President Biden resumed funding to the group shortly after taking office. He continued to increase spending to the organization, with funds exceeding $1 billion, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

Trump said in 2018 that he pulled funding to the group after peace talks stalled. 

“I stopped massive amounts of money that we were paying to the Palestinians and the Palestinian leaders.  We were – the United States was paying them tremendous amounts of money,” Trump said at the time.  “And I’d say, ‘You’ll get money, but we’re not paying you until we make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, we’re not paying.'”

BIDEN ADMIN CUTS FUNDING TO CONTROVERSIAL UN AGENCY AMID ALLEGATIONS MEMBERS ASSISTED IN HAMAS MASSACRE

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said an investigation was immediately launched following the accusations, leading to the termination of nine employees. 

“Of the 12 people implicated, nine were immediately identified and terminated by the commissioner-general of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini; one is confirmed dead, and the identity of the two others is being clarified,” Guterres said. 

“Any U.N. employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution. The Secretariat is ready to cooperate with a competent authority able to prosecute the individuals in line with the Secretariat’s normal procedures for such cooperation.”

UN’S TOP COURT ALLOWS ISRAEL TO KEEP FIGHTING IN GAZA, ORDERS IT TO ‘ADHERE TO THE GENOCIDE CONVENTION’

He called on the nations that ended their funding to the group to resume their support, arguing that “tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers,” and they “should not be penalized.”

The comment sparked outrage from Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, who said nations that continue funding the UNWRA “before a comprehensive investigation of the organization should know that its money might be used for terrorism.”  

“The U.N. secretary-general has proven once again that the security of the citizens of Israel is not really important for him. After years in which he ignored the evidence presented to him personally about UNRWA’s support and involvement in incitement and terrorism, and before he conducted a comprehensive investigation to locate all Hamas terrorists in UNRWA, he called to fund an organization that is deeply contaminated with terrorism,” Erdan said. 

KIRBY UNSURE OF ‘DOLLAR FIGURE’ OF US FUNDING TO CONTROVERSIAL UN AGENCY ALLEGEDLY TIED TO HAMAS ATTACK

McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, recently requested the UNRWA commissioner-general appear before the committee on the matter, with the Texas lawmaker saying Sunday, “We’re gonna get some answers.”

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“And we do have reporting that UNRWA is using money to give aid to Hamas. And that’s why I’ve advocated to cut that funding. The administration – finally, after they allowed it – put a pause on it just a couple of days ago. And they’re gonna testify before my committee, and we’re gonna get some answers,” he said. 

Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report. 

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., cited the “presidential election year” in explaining on Sunday why Republicans are backing away from the border bill he is negotiating with Senate Democrats, arguing that the supplemental package, contrary to the assertion by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is “not about letting 5,000 people in a day.” 

Lankford, under fire from the Oklahoma GOP as well over the border bill, appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” where he defended the package said to have something akin to a Title 42 power that would allow everyone at the border to be turned away. Last week, Cruz blasted the Republican compromise, however, saying it still afforded about 6 million people – or two-thirds of the 9.6 million illegal border crossings under President Biden – to illegally enter and stay. He further argued the actual text language of the legislation was being kept a secret. 

“The challenge that Sen. Cruz has and a bunch of other folks is they’re still waiting to be able to read the bill on this. And this has been our great challenge of being able to fight through the final words, to be able to get the bill text out so people can hear it. Right now there’s internet rumors is all that people are running on. It would be absolutely absurd for me to agree to 5,000 people a day,” Lankford told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream. “This bill focuses on getting us to zero illegal crossings a day. There’s no amnesty.”

Lankford argued the bill increases the number of Border Patrol agents, increases asylum officers, and increases detention beds “so we can quickly detain and then deport individuals.”

SENATE BORDER BILL TO ALLOW 5,000 MIGRANTS A DAY BEFORE TITLE 42-TYPE LIMIT STARTS; SPARKING CONSERVATIVE FURY

“It ends catch and release. It focuses on additional deportation flights out. It changes our asylum process so that people get a fast asylum screening at a higher standard and then get returned back to their home country. This is not about letting 5,000 people in a day,” he said. “This is the most misunderstood section of this proposal.”

In the past four months, Lankford said, there’s only been seven days when less than 5,000 people have crossed the border in one day. “This is set up for if you have a rush of people coming at the border, the border closes down. No one gets in,” he said of the bill. “This is not someone standing at the border with a little clicker saying, I’m going to let one more. And we’re at 4,999, and then it has to stop. It is a shutdown of the border and everyone actually gets turned around.” 

Despite President Biden claiming at a campaign rally this weekend that the border supplemental would allow him to secure the border, Lankford stressed the Democrat incumbent could already secure the border now if he wanted to. Some Republicans are criticizing Lankford for pursuing the bill anyhow, essentially handing Biden a win to claim he’s made progress on the border crisis. But the senator from Oklahoma urged that the timing of the election shouldn’t affect progress. 

“Republicans four months ago would not give funding for Ukraine, for Israel and for our southern border because we demanded changes in policy. So we actually locked arms together and said, we’re not going to give you money for this. We want a change in law. And now it’s interesting, a few months later, when we’re finally going to the end, they’re like, ‘Oh, just kidding. I actually don’t want a change in law,'” Lankford said. “We all have an oath to the Constitution, and we have a commitment to say we’re going to do whatever we can to be able to secure the border.”

The Republican senator noted that over the last four months, 50 people on the terror watch list were detected crossing the border. 

BORDER DEAL PRICE TAG LIKELY TO COST MORE THAN $14 BILLION, BUT GOP LAWMAKERS GROW RESTLESS TO SEE BILL TEXT

Tens of thousands more declared national security risks were detected crossing the border. 

“This puts in mandatory pieces that haven’t been there in the past to make this administration actually enforce the law. I would tell you that I don’t – I don’t know of anyone that believes that if President Trump was elected, he was president right now, this border would not have this problem. So the thought that somehow President Biden can suddenly be the pro-national security president in the final months of this is not believable,” Lankford continued. “We’ve had millions of people illegally cross because he opened up our border. He literally invited the world to be able to come, and they came. That’s why we have this chaos. We’ve got to do something now to be able to stop it, and then to be able to put new tools that even the Trump administration was looking for when they were president, put those tools in place for every president from here on out.” 

Later in the program, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., noted mounting criticism from his own party against Lankford. 

“He’s on a suicide mission. The Democrats do not want to secure the border,” Scott said. “This border could be secure, but we know we have a lawless administration, a completely lawless Biden administration. So the only way this is going to happen is if we have accountability that forces Biden to enforce the law. We could change all these laws. There’s laws now. Trump secured the border. Biden decided open the border on the exact same laws. We don’t need a new bill. We need something to enforce to force Biden to comply with the law.” 

Scott said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Lankford he cannot add accountability measures to the bill to require Biden to secure the border immediately. 

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“Biden could do that today. Why doesn’t he do it today? I mean, he doesn’t need any of this to secure the border. Trump secured the border with the exact same laws,” Scott said. “Unless there’s some accountability measure that forces Biden to secure the border – tied to Ukraine aid, tied to something else – unless there’s something like that, Biden is not going to comply with the law. If it was important for him to comply with the law, he would do it right now. If we can’t force Biden to secure the border, we need to shut the border today.” 

Former President Donald Trump was ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $83 million in damages for defaming her after he repeatedly denied allegations he raped her in the 1990s, in a legal ordeal that has been mired in controversy and concerns over the former advice columnist’s accusations. 

“Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after the verdict was read on Friday. “Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights.”

Carroll, who previously worked as a columnist for Elle Magazine, had filed two lawsuits against Trump since 2019, when she first accused him of raping her in an excerpt in her book “What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal.” Trump vehemently denied the allegation, saying, “it never happened,” ultimately leading Carroll to sue Trump for defamation when he was still president. 

Carroll filed a second lawsuit against Trump in 2022, accusing the former president of rape and defamation for social media posts where Trump denied the allegations and accused her of promoting a “hoax and a lie.” Carroll was able to sue Trump over the rape accusation despite it being past the statute of limitations due to the passage of a law in New York in 2019 that allowed adults to file a one-time civil case despite the expiration of the statute of limitations. 

TRUMP CANNOT ASSERT PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY IN E JEAN CARROLL DEFAMATION LAWSUIT, APPEALS COURT RULES

TRUMP CANNOT ASSERT PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY IN E JEAN CARROLL DEFAMATION LAWSUIT, APPEALS COURT RULES

Trump was never criminally charged with sexual assault, as the statute of limitations had expired. Last spring, jurors found Trump liable for sexual abuse – though not rape – and awarded Carroll $5 million in a judgment. The jury said Carroll hadn’t proven that Trump raped her.

Carroll’s recently-wrapped case sought more than $10 million for damage to her reputation stemming from Trump’s comments in 2019, when he was still president. The jury ultimately awarded her $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages.

Amid the trial, Carroll’s attorney told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan that Trump was heard remarking that the trial was a “witch hunt, and it really is a con job.”

JUDGE THREATENS TO BAR TRUMP FROM COURTROOM OVER INTERJECTIONS DURING E JEAN CARROLL TRIAL

“Mr. Trump has a right to be present here. That right can be forfeited if he is disruptive and if he disregards court orders,” Kaplan said before threatening to boot Trump from the trial if he “can’t control” himself. 

Amid court proceedings and immediately following, supporters of the president and social media critics have sounded off with previous remarks Carroll has made that raised concerns about her recounting, including her 2019 interview on CNN where she argued “most people” view rape as “sexy.”

“​​I think most people think of rape as being sexy,” Carroll told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2019, before the anchor cut to a commercial break. 

Trump, along with his supporters, have argued his hands were tied amid the trial as the judge barred some evidence from being shown to the jury, including the Cooper interview. Trump said last week that the CNN interview would “totally” exonerate him from a “decades old accusation.”

The judge presiding over the case also barred Trump’s legal team from arguing he didn’t sexually assault Carroll, or “that she fabricated her account of the assault, or that she had any motive to do so.” Kaplan ruled that the case would not be a “do over” of the case last year when Trump was found liable for sexual abuse, but not criminally charged with sexual assault.

LAWYER IN TRUMP DEFAMATION CASE WON’T INTRODUCE ‘ACCESS HOLLYWOOD’ TAPE AHEAD OF POSSIBLE TESTIMONY

“Donald Trump is not allowed to call his accuser E Jean Carroll a nut job. So we can do it for him,” one X user posted this month, accompanied by a 2017 interview between Carroll and Elle Magazine. In the interview, Carroll showed off her cabin home, called the “Mouse House,” as well as rocks she had painted blue, and a shed decked out with names of books and authors who influenced her in her youth. 

Carroll also came under fire for tweets about learning “sex tips” from her dog, as well as for naming her cat “Vagina T. Fireball,” according to a 2019 Vanity Fair article, and one of her dogs “Tits,” according to the 2017 video interview with Elle Magazine. 

Carroll said in her memoir that in 1995 or 1996, she saw Trump in a Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan, where she claims the two exchanged shopping banter before he attacked her in a dressing room in the store’s lingerie department. The year of the incident was later clarified to the spring of 1996. The department store previously confirmed it had no surveillance footage to prove or disprove the attack, New York magazine previously reported. 

Trump said in a Truth Social post Thursday that Carroll allegedly changed the timeline of her recounting of the incident due to previously claiming that she still had the Donna Karan dress she wore the day of the attack, though the dress had not yet been manufactured. 

“E. Jean Carroll was forced to change her story about her ‘dress’ when Donna Karan, the designer of the dress, said that it wasn’t conceived or manufactured until long after the date in question. In other words, the Monica Lewinsky type gambit failed badly, then also learning that there was ZERO EVIDENCE on the dress, despite all of the threats. All of this HOAX run and funded by Political Operatives!!!” Trump wrote. 

TRUMP VIDEO OF E JEAN CARROLL DEPOSITION RELEASED: ‘SHE WOULDN’T BE MY TYPE IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM’

Trump also highlighted on his Truth Social account that Carroll described the encounter as a “fight,” and she had “not been raped.”

“Every woman gets to choose her word. Every woman gets to choose how she describes it. This is my way of saying it. This is my word. My word is ‘fight,'” she explained in an interview with a New York Times podcast in 2019.

“My word is not the victim word. I have not – I have not been raped,” she continued. “I have – something has not been done to me. I fought. That’s the thing.”

Trump said on Truth Social last week that Carroll’s accusations were “false” and “forced into the public eye by Democrat operatives like her lawyer, her finders, and others.” 

During last year’s trial, Trump’s legal team and critics drew parallels between Carroll’s allegations and an episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” which included a plot line where a character discussed role-playing a rape fantasy in Bergdorf Goodman. Carroll said during last year’s trial that she was “aware” of the 2012 episode, but had not seen it.

Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll’s accusations, including in the White House when he was president, which is a central argument to Carroll’s case.

“He had the biggest microphone on the planet… He used it to tear her reputation to shreds – to defame her,” Shawn Crowley, one of Carroll’s attorneys, said earlier this month. 

“Is it any wonder that when Donald Trump spoke from the White House, people all across the country listened and many, many believed what he said? Of course not,” Crowley added. 

Carroll also told the jury this month that due to Trump’s public comments in 2019 regarding the accusations, her life has been threatened and she’s been painted as a “whack job.” 

“I spent 50 years building a reputation,” Carroll said last week. “Now I’m known as a liar, a fraud, and a whack job.”

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Following the verdict, Carroll said she plans to do “something good” with the funds awarded to her from the case.

Trump, who received support from New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik ahead of the verdict, said court proceedings were “witch hunts,” and his legal team is now working to appeal the verdict. The legal team reportedly plans to use a “conflict of interest” between Carroll’s attorney and Kaplan to appeal the case, the New York Post reported. 

“President Trump is leading in the polls, and now we see what you get in New York,” Trump attorney Alina Habba told reporters following the verdict. “It will not deter us, we will keep fighting, and I assure you we didn’t win today, but we will win.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., says President Biden can “do more” to persuade voters to re-elect him, rather than focusing on attacking former President Trump.

Ocasio-Cortez made the comment during a Sunday morning appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with host Kristen Welker. She argued that Biden should be more aggressive on providing free health care and college education for Americans.

“You have said in the past that it’s not enough to Democrats to just talk about what they are running against,” Welker began. “Do you think, in this very moment, President Biden is doing a good enough job explaining to voters why they should vote for him and not just against former President Trump?”

“I think we can certainly do more to be advancing our vision,” Ocasio-Cortez responded. “I believe we have a strong vision that we can run on.”

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AOC then gave Biden some credit, referencing his pledge to codify abortion protections if Democrats hold the House, Senate and presidency.

“I think we can do more,” she added, however. “I think we need to be talking more about health care. Of course, me, as a progressive, I want to see the age of Medicare drop, whether it’s to 50 as the president has discussed earlier or to zero, as is my preference.”

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“I believe we can do more. We can talk even more about the fact that public colleges and universities should be tuition-free or reduced,” she added.

Ocasio-Cortez went on to affirm that Biden is the strongest candidate for Democrats to put up against Trump, though she offered the caveat that he is the strongest in the current Democratic field.

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The current field includes just Marianne Williamson, a self-help author, and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who launched his campaign in protest against the lack of a serious Democratic primary.

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Ocasio-Cortez has heavily criticized Biden in the past, accusing him of a “lurch to the right” in April last year. Prior to Biden announcing his re-election campaign, AOC had refused to say whether she would support him.