GOP hunts for unified strategy in emergency declaration fight

The fight over President Trump’s emergency declaration is opening new fractures within the Senate Republican caucus ahead of a showdown on the floor next week.

GOP senators are struggling to unify behind a strategy to address the declaration, even as they face pressures like fresh figures released by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that show a dramatic rise in apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Republicans are discussing the possibility of alternative measures that would let the caucus lay out its position on border security and offer a counterpoint to a House-passed resolution of disapproval blocking Trump. But instead of bringing Republicans together, they are struggling to agree on what an alternative would look like — underscoring the deep divisions sparked by Trump’s action.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said a number of his Republican colleagues were working to draft a measure but voiced frustration that Majority Leader MItch McConnell (R-Ky.) isn’t more engaged in the talks. He said that by failing to offer their own proposal they were ceding “ball control” to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

“Why not do our own? I just don’t know why we’re giving ball control in the United States Senate to Nancy Pelosi, it makes no sense to me,” Johnson said.