House centrists to unveil bipartisan border and aid deal for Ukraine and Israel

WASHINGTON — After Speaker Mike Johnson rejected a Senate-passed national security package, centrist House Republican lawmakers said Thursday they will soon unveil their own bipartisan proposal that calls for new border policies coupled with critical military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

“This is a really good piece of legislation. It’s pared-down. It’s airtight. There’s really not a whole lot of area that anyone can criticize on this,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., though the group has yet to release the text. “And it’s bipartisan. It’s the only bipartisan solution in the House.”

The bipartisan package will initially have eight co-sponsors, equally split between Democrats and Republicans. In addition to Fitzpatrick, the Republican backers are Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Mike Lawler of New York and Lori Michelle Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, a lawmaker confirmed.

The Democrats are Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Ed Case of Hawaii, Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez of Washington and Jim Costa of California, the lawmaker said.

Punchbowl first reported the list of co-sponsors.

Fitzpatrickis a co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group of centrist lawmakers, but he said the legislation wasn’t a Problem Solvers product.

Bacon, a swing district lawmaker, said he worked with Fitzpatrick to craft the bill and hopes to release it soon. In addition to scaled-back aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, the package borrows language from the House GOP’s tough border bill, known as H.R. 2, members said.

That includes language relating to the “Remain in Mexico” policy that required some asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims were adjudicated. President Joe Biden ended the policy, which human rights groups said