Rep. Hageman to Newsmax: Border Control or Bust

Republicans have bargaining power in the trillion-and-a-half dollar continuing resolution and must use it first and foremost to secure the southern border or shut down the government, Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., told Newsmax.

"This is an opportunity for us to take a hard line on this and say, 'Unless we can get border control, we're going to have to shut things down," Hageman said on "Saturday Agenda."

On Jan. 7, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced that they had agreed on the topline spending numbers for the continuing resolution to fund the government: $1.59 trillion, according to CNN.

Of that, $886 billion will be allocated for defense spending; and of that, $46 billion will go toward Ukraine, $14 billion to Israel, $2 billion to the Indo-Pacific or Taiwan, and $704 billion will go toward nondefense spending.

Hageman says that negotiations could reach an agreement if H.R. 2 is implemented.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, H.R. 2, or the Secure the Border Act of 2023, would restrict the Department of Homeland Security's parole authority, which allows migrants to live in the U.S. as they await an asylum trial, mandate all employers use the E-Verify system, continue construction the U.S.-Mexico border wall, and increase Border Patrol staffing and surveillance.