National Review, February 6, 2024
I wrote about the Lankford–Schumer border bill over at the New York Post, but I didn’t mention the irony of the two chambers’ simultaneous and opposite approaches to immigration.
As early as this week, the full House of Representatives could vote to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for disobeying the law, abuse of power, and dereliction of duty. But at the same time — possibly even on the same day — the Senate could vote on a measure crafted in part by that same cabinet member to “solve” the crisis caused by his own disobeying the law, abuse of power, and dereliction of duty.
And, to top it off, the Senate’s legislative “solution” conveniently guts the very laws (mandatory detention and parole, as Andy McCarthy has explained) that Mayorkas is disobeying!
Another irony: Not only has Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, who got this whole thing rolling in the first place, just recommended that his caucus vote against proceeding to final consideration (a cloture vote), but even Senator Lankford, who negotiated the mess, has suggested he might vote against cloture.
Final irony: A central part of the Lankford–Schumer bill is to essentially codify the Biden administration’s (illegal) asylum officer rule, which invites fraud and has hugely increased the rate of illegal aliens successfully getting asylum. But that very Biden asylum rule is being challenged in court by attorneys general of 20 states — including Oklahoma (which Lankford represents) and Kentucky (McConnell). Lankford has already been censured by his home-state party for his involvement in this mess, even before the details were released, and undercutting his own attorney general isn’t likely to help.