White House Slams Senate GOP for Demanding to Reinstate Title 42 Before Backing $10 Billion COVID Funding

The White House has slammed Senate GOP for blocking an effort to move forward on a $10 billion COVID aid package on Tuesday, arguing that the spending bill should have a provision that would keep the Title 42 expulsion policy in place.

In a statement released Tuesday night, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said it was disappointing that Senate GOP voted down "consideration of a much-needed bill to purchase vaccines, boosters, and life-saving treatments" for Americans.

"As we have repeatedly said, there are consequences for Congress failing to fund our COVID Response. The program that reimbursed doctors, pharmacists and other providers for vaccinating the uninsured had to end today due to a lack of funds," Psaki added.

According to the Daily Mail, the Senate GOP decided against beginning a debate on the $10 billion COVID aid bill in a 47-52 vote on Tuesday. Democrat Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has joined the Republicans.

Democrats reportedly need at least 10 Republicans on board to move forward with the $10 billion COVID relief package. However, it could now be delayed for weeks since the Senate will be on a two-week break beginning April 11.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned GOP lawmakers not to take the COVID package "hostage" by pushing on a vote to amend the bill with a provision to keep Title 42, The Hill reported.

"The bottom line is this is a bipartisan agreement that does a whole lot of good for the American people: Vaccines, testing, therapeutics... It was negotiated in good faith. It should not be held hostage to extraneous, unrelated issues," Schumer noted.

GOP Lawmakers Want Title 42 Title 42 Amendment in Exchange for Allowing Covid Aid Funding to Pass

Every Republican senator decided against beginning the debate on the spending bill after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell threatened to withhold support unless Democrats included a provision that will keep the Trump-era border policy, Title 42, in place.

"There would have to be an amendment on Title 42 in order to move the bill," McConnell told reporters on Tuesday, as The Daily Mail reported.

McConnel noted that Republicans and Democrats in the Senate "need to enter into some kind of agreement to process these amendments in order to go forward with the bill."

However, McConnell did not mention if he would push the threshold for adopting the amendment to be set at 60 votes or 50. It has a better chance of becoming part of the relief package if the adoption of the amendment is set at a 50-vote threshold.

Biden Administration to Rescind Title 42 Expulsion Policy

Last week, the Biden administration announced that the Title 42 policy, which is used to rapidly expel immigrants on the southern border, would expire by May 23.

On Monday, Republican-led states, namely Arizona, Missouri, and Louisiana, filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its plans to rescind Title 42.

The suit listed some 20 defendants, including nearly every agency involved with either public health or the border.

Department of Homeland Security officials said they are bracing for a migrant influx of more than 170,000 after the end of Title 42.

New York Representative John Katko noted that the daily migrant encounters would increase to 18,000, higher from the present 8,000 daily encounters at the border.

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus also admitted that ending Title 42 will cause a rise in migrant encounters. However, he noted that they are doing everything to prepare for the increase.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: 'A Broken Immigration System': Homeland Security Secretary Defends Ending Title 42 - From CNN