Senate downs border bill for second time

The Senate voted down the bipartisan border bill Thursday, marking the second time it has been blocked in a matter of months as Democrats look to shore up their political troubles and give President Biden and incumbent senators a boost in the process.

In a widely expected outcome, senators voted 43-50 to take down the proposal, which was negotiated over the fall and winter by Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). The bill lost support compared to the previous vote in February, which fell in a 49-50 tally.

Headlining those who flipped their votes this time around was Lankford, who was the lead GOP member throughout negotiations before the border bill met an unceremonious death. 

The Oklahoma Republican told The Hill last week that Schumer and Murphy didn’t discuss the renewed border push with him and that he was siding with his GOP colleagues, arguing this current push was inherently political and that Democrats were not interested at this point in getting a legislative result.