Dem Rep. Levin: Schumer Playing Politics on Border with Vote This Week

On Friday's broadcast of “NewsNation Now,” Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) stated that while it's regrettable that the Senate border bill didn't pass, it was a political move for Democrats to bring the bill back up this week when they knew it wouldn't pass and he wants them to work on solving the issue.

Levin said that before a bill comes to the floor, you should “try to work together and actually have the votes. And what's sad about this particular bill is that it did have the votes back in February. … And Trump killed it dead and we knew it was going to die this week, too.”

Host Connell McShane then played video of Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), one of the bill's authors, saying he's against it because people should come back to the table to work on something that will pass.

He then asked, “I think he and other Republicans are basically saying Schumer brought this up as political cover for Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and other Democrats who are in the Senate in kind of vulnerable states and places he thought maybe this could help them. Isn't that a fair criticism that there [are] politics now on the Democratic side?”

Levin answered, “Well, I heard the words of Sen. Lankford that you just played and I agreed with them. And that's why it's so critically important that we try to come together again. It's not easy when the other side, in the House, anyway, the other side doesn't really seem interested in any sort of bipartisan negotiation. They brought their bill, H.R. 2, without any input from House Democrats and they knew that that bill was going to die in the Senate. So, I don't want to cast aspersions and place blame and point fingers. I think far too many politicians on both sides are doing it. I think it's a national security issue and it ought to be nonpartisan, Connell.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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