A GOP Border Reckoning

Mitch McConnell created a Beltway stir Thursday when the press reported that the Senate GOP leader had cast doubt on a deal for border security and aid to Ukraine and Israel. Republicans said later the stories were overbaked, but Mr. McConnell is right about the choice Republicans face at a dangerous moment at home and abroad.

The Kentucky Republican was noting the reality that the deal faces political headwinds, and he is right to warn his colleagues that their window for a rare accomplishment is waning. Donald Trump is trying to torpedo any agreement, which could cause a GOP stampede away from a deal.

Public frustration over border failures is coming to a boil, and Mr. Trump is hoping to ride this back into the White House. Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson is down to a hairline majority in the House, and he lives under daily threat of defenestration by members of his own party. Some House Republicans are demanding nothing less than their own preferred border bill, known as H.R. 2. That measure commanded no Democratic support in the House, and it won’t miraculously win over the Democrats needed to clear the Senate.