House Republicans are teeing up a vote on a resolution to condemn the Biden administration and Vice President Harris, specifically over their handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The move is an apparent reaction to Harris becoming the likely Democratic presidential nominee following President Biden’s Sunday announcement that he would no longer run for reelection.
It also previews the policy arguments Republicans will make against Harris as they adjust to the shifting political environment.
The resolution, led by House GOP conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), references Harris’s role as “border czar,” though that was not an official title that Biden gave Harris, nor was she asked to oversee the entirety of policies on the U.S.-Mexico border. Biden did ask Harris to head up a diplomatic campaign to address the root causes of migration from countries in Central America.
Still, the resolution dings Harris for it taking her “93 days as the border czar before finally visiting the southern border on June 25, 2021,” and charging that “President Biden’s and Border Czar Harris’s far left Democrat open border policies are to blame for this historic crisis.”
Republican leaders added a vote on the resolution to the week’s schedule on Monday night. The House Rules Committee is meeting in an emergency hearing Tuesday afternoon to ready the resolution for a floor vote.
“Kamala Harris’ failed leadership led to the most catastrophic open border crisis in history,” Stefanik said in a statement. “Biden’s open border czar Kamala Harris, and every elected Democrat is responsible for this border crisis and they must all be held accountable for their role in jeopardizing our national security and turning every community into a border community.”
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates dismissed the attack, saying “As we speak, congressional Republicans continue their months-long blockade of critical resources for ICE and the Border Patrol in the tough bipartisan border security agreement supported by the Biden-Harris Administration.”
He added, “President Biden and Vice President Harris are leading on border security, while congressional Republicans sabotage it by disgracefully siding with Donald Trump, fentanyl traffickers, and human smugglers over our national security.”
Updated at 5:10 p.m.