House GOP leaders are scrambling to quell an internal rebellion over their border security bill, according to multiple GOP sources, putting the timing of the legislation's passage in limbo.
The House was supposed to vote Wednesday afternoon on a rule to set floor debate for the bill, but leadership recessed the floor as they work to find a path forward. Final passage is scheduled for Thursday -- a vote strategically timed to coincide with the expiration of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allowed certain migrants to be turned away at the border.
Republican leaders worked for months to negotiate the border and immigration package, a signature piece of legislation and an issue they ran on in the midterms. But they are still running into last-minute pockets of opposition, though leadership remains confident they'll ultimately be able to round up enough votes for the bill.
One major hang-up is language that asks the secretary of homeland security to issue a report determining whether Mexican cartels are a "foreign terrorist organization." Some Republicans are pushing leadership to take it out of the bill, concerned it could create a new "credible fear" claim for asylum seekers.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, told CNN that he knows of at least five Republicans who are "hard no" votes if the provision remains.
"It's stupid, it's counterproductive," Crenshaw said of the foreign terrorist organization language. "That's what people are rebelling against."
Rep. Bob Good, a member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, told CNN he is among the Republicans pushing for changes to the FTO language, and has communicated his concerns to leadership.
He said he'd be able to support the border bill if the language is removed or changed.
There are also still lingering concerns over a provision in the bill to expand e-verify, a database employers use to verify immigration status. Republicans representing districts with agriculture were worried that without reworking the agricultural visa program, the provision could make it more difficult for rural farmers to find a pipeline of workers.
A handful of Republicans representing agricultural-heavy districts had thought the issue had been resolved with leadership and that the bill would be updated to include language that would study the implications of E-Verify before the program was required. That minor change was supposed to happen in the Rules Commitee, but a source familiar told CNN that some conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus were opposed and the amendment wasn't added. That caused further heartburn Wednesday as leaders were trying to cement support for the bill.
Leaders have been meeting with key chairs and holdouts in the speaker's office this afternoon in an attempt to resolve the issue. Democrats are not expected to back the measure, meaning Republicans can only afford to lose four votes -- and they are already down one member with the absence of GOP Rep. George Santos, who was charged in New York on Wednesday with multiple counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and other charges.
GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales, who represents a Texas border district, told CNN as he left House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's office on Wednesday that he is not sure if he will support the GOP border bill.
"That's a damn good question," he told reporters.
"There's a lot more hang-ups than people realize" regarding E-verify, and "we have a long way to go," Gonzales said.
Gonzales has been a long holdout on the package but had recently expressed he would support the deal that became the final package.
Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, who represents an agriculture district, said he could get to yes on the bill if there is an amendment requiring a report studying the impacts of the E-verify on the workforce before the provision is implemented.
"We're still talking about an amendment," he said. "I think we're getting really close."
House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green told CNN he did not think the language of the bill would be changing any further, but in a sign of how in flux negotiations are, he added, "that could change in the next half hour."
Even though he said he did not know if there is enough support for the package Green projected confidence telling CNN, "what I'm hearing is we are good to go."
Green said he thought the issues relating to language addressing foreign terrorist organizations were addressed with members in their conference meeting Wednesday morning.
"I think we addressed that in conference this morning to everybody. We brought up how the asylum laws are written now and made pretty clear that it's a government that has to be oppressing that person or threatening that person and we also put in this language that says nothing in this would construe the asylum is granted because they get named as foreign terrorist organizations," he added.
The GOP border bill, which is dead on arrival in the Senate, would restart construction of the border wall, increase funding for border agents and upgraded border technology, reinstate the "remain in Mexico" policy, place new restrictions on asylum seekers, and enhance requirements for E-verify.