Border bill fails in US Senate for second time

A sweeping bipartisan border security bill failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday, blocked by GOP opposition and Democratic divisions, Report informs via CNN.

Democrats brought the measure back up after it failed earlier this year in an attempt to put pressure on Senate Republicans and shift the narrative on border security, but the bill exposed divides among Democrats as some came out against it, threatening to undermine the party’s messaging effort. The vote was 43 to 50.

As immigration remains top of mind for voters, the White House and top congressional Democrats have discussed a series of moves aimed at strengthening their hand on border security ahead of the first presidential debate next month. Sources say those talks included reviving the stalled border security measure that initially failed after former President Donald Trump told GOP lawmakers to knock it down.

Democrats have pointed to the failure of the bill – which was negotiated on a bipartisan basis – to argue that Republicans are not serious about trying to fix problems at the southern border and are ready to ramp up that argument after the bill stalled out a second time.

But without Ukraine tied to the measure, some Democrats and immigrant advocates are casting it as purely political and taking issue with key elements of the bill – one of the toughest border measures in recent memory.