In a guest column, Representative Chavez-DeRemer’s Office complained about what she claimed was inaccurate information about the “Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act,” a bill that Chavez-DeRemer and a handful of House members have put forward to address border security and foreign aid to Ukraine.

The Office wrote:

“[There was] misleading information regarding the Senate’s actions on foreign aid and border security. The upper chamber’s immigration deal did not survive a cloture vote, and therefore it never received a vote in the Senate. Senators did pass a separate foreign aid package, but it is a nonstarter in the House unless border security provisions are included,” Bolding added.

But Chavez-DeRemer’s description of the Senate’s two bipartisan bills — the $188 billion border security and foreign aid bill and the $95 billion foreign aid bill — leaves out many key facts she should have disclosed to keep her constituents from being misled.

The first bill was carefully negotiated over a number of months and agreed to by the Senate leadership of both parties. It would both address the border issues that Republican have been clamoring to fix and provide desperately needed aid to Ukraine. However, after the bill was introduced, MAGA GOP, cowed by Trump, reversed course and killed the bill to keep the border security issue alive for the 2024 elections.

The Senate then overwhelmingly passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill, without the border security provisions, by a vote of 70-29. But Speaker Johnson has refused to allow a vote on this bill, citing, incredibly enough, its lack of border security provisions! In response, 191 House members (including one Republican, not Chavez-DeRemer) have signed a discharge petition to allow the House to vote on it as of March 22. 218 signatures are required. The bill is predicted to pass with over 300 votes if it is allowed to come to the floor.

In contrast, as of March 22, only 16 supporters had signed the discharge petition for the $68 billion bill co-sponsored by Chavez-DeRemer. Of those 16, 5 of the 6 Democrats also signed the petition to discharge the Senate foreign aid bill.

This bill is an unpopular substitute measure. It is significantly smaller because all of the desperately needed humanitarian aid for Gaza and Ukraine has been cut. It also includes much more draconian immigration provisions than the ones already agreed to in the original Senate border/foreign aid bill.

Another issue Chavez-DeRemer fails to address is that the bill she supports will need to pass the Senate, which will cause further delays. Given the bill’s shortcomings, there is no guarantee it would garner the 60 votes needed. In contrast, a discharge petition for the $95 billion Senate bill that has already overwhelmingly passed the Senate will enable Congress to provide both humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine much more quickly.

MAGA Republicans, Chavez-DeRemer among them, have thus blocked the resolution of these two critical issues — aid for our democratic ally, Ukraine, which is fighting off invasion by Putin’s Russia, and border security. Chavez-DeRemer’s efforts to promote an unacceptable alternative bill are merely an attempt to obfuscate her accountability for this outcome. She endorsed Trump and all his MAGA extremism, including his critical role in derailing the original $118 billion Senate bill for his own political gain, after he acted to tank the bill. She voted to elect Christian extremist Speaker Johnson, known as “MAGA Mike,” calling him a “consensus candidate.” Johnson has done everything he could to derail both bipartisan Senate bills. And, he facilitated the impeachment of DHS Secretary Mayorkas shortly after the bipartisan Senate border bill failed.

Equally as serious, Chavez-DeRemer has shown that she cannot be trusted. Her constituents should always ask themselves what important facts may be missing when she makes a statement. The episode also underscores how the deeply dysfunctional MAGA GOP control of the House has disrupted the orderly functioning of Congress. We deserve better!

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