‘My Own Line Turned Around And Sacked Me’: James Lankford Hasn’t Forgotten The Border Bill Debacle

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) is using a sports metaphor to describe what happened to him when his fellow Republicans, with the urging of former President Donald Trump, rejected a carefully negotiated border security and foreign aid bill in early February.

“When I called the play as the quarterback that day, and my own line turned around and sacked me, that was definitely a surprise to me. Because everybody was fully aware what the play call was,” Lankford said in an appearance this week before the conservative Ripon Society in Washington, D.C.

Lankford was one of three main negotiators on the bill, along with Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). After Republicans in September rejected sending more weapons to Ukraine to defend itself against a Russian invasion,and instead demanded that any aid be tied to border security changes, the trio started writing a bill of their own.

The final product would have enhanced the president’s ability to shut down the U.S. border in certain circumstances, and would have provided about $60 billion in aid to Ukraine. But many Republicans said it did not go far enough, and some openly worried it would give President Joe Biden a political win in an election year.

Trump publicly urged Republicans not to agree to the proposed deal, saying it would benefit Democrats and Biden. House Leader Mike Johnson (R-La.) obliged, saying that even if the bill passed the Senate, he would not bring it up for a vote in the House.

“Please, blame it on me,” Trump said in a Las Vegas appearance .

Some senators said they were shocked by the bill’s provisions , including the circumstances under which a border shutdown would be allowed. “This is worse than bad negotiation. It’s betrayal,”