Speaker Johnson says House 'will do everything in its power' to back Texas over border feudHouse Speaker Mike Johnson says the Republican-controlled House "will do everything in its power" to support Texas over its ongoing feud with the Biden administration over border security -- after the Lone Star State said it has a "right to self-defense."
"I stand with Governor Abbott. The House will do everything in its power to back him up," he said on X, formerly known as Twitter. "The next step: holding [DHS] Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas accountable."
Abbott on Tuesday declared the state has a right to "self-defense" from a migrant "invasion" as it faces significant pushback over its border security policies from the Biden administration.
The Supreme Court this week found in the administration's favor when it granted an emergency appeal to allow agents to keep cutting border wire set up by Texas along the border. Texas this week published images of it strengthening physical barriers along Eagle Pass in response.
There is a separate threat of a lawsuit related to the seizure of Shelby Park along Eagle Pass by Texas authorities. Meanwhile, the administration has sued over the establishment of buoys in the Rio Grande River by Texas, and the recently signed law that allows Texas state and local officials to arrest illegal immigrants. The administration has accused Texas of interfering with federal control over immigration and border security, and has said it is putting agents and migrants in danger.
Abbott, however, cited constitutional language that demands the federal government "protect each [State] against invasion" and the right of states to protect their own borders.
Abbott argues that "the failure of the Biden administration" to fulfill those duties triggers a clause in Article 1 that "reserves to this State the right of self-defense." He notes he has already declared an "invasion" to invoke the authority, which he calls "the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.................
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/speaker-johnson-says-house-will-do-everything-in-its-power-to-back-texas-over-border-feud
