Speaker Johnson Weighs Talks With Biden on Border as Senate Stalls

  • Speaker Johnson demands series of restrictive border policies
  • Biden Budget Director Young cool to direct talks with Speaker

Mike Johnson speaks with Republican members of Congress in Eagle Pass, Texas on Jan. 3. 

Photographer: Eric Gay/AP
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House Speaker Mike Johnson is considering seeking direct talks with President Joe Biden on Ukraine aid and border policy as negotiations on a bipartisan compromise drag in the Senate, a person familiar with the matter said.

A bipartisan group of senators has been working for weeks on possible changes to US immigration policy that Republicans have demanded as a condition for approving Biden’s $61 billion emergency Ukraine aid request. That group has not yet reached a deal, top Senate Democratic negotiator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut senator, said this week.