'Heated' Republicans storm out of classified briefing after McConnell 'hijacks' meeting: 'Waste of time'

06 December 2023

On Tuesday, December 5, Democratic and GOP senators attended a closed-door briefing in which President Joe Biden's request for military aid to Israel and Ukraine was discussed. But according to NBC News reporters Frank Thorp V, Kate Santaliz and Lori Rampani, the briefing did not go well.

The briefing's leaders included, among others, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Alejandro Mayorkas as well as Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Senators who attended were invited to ask questions about Biden's request.

But according to Thorp, Santaliz and Rampani, the "heated" briefing "fell apart" when "Republicans began asking about the" U.S./Mexico border.

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"GOP members in both chambers have demanded serious changes to immigration policy to address rising migrant crossings in exchange for passing new aid for Ukraine," the NBC News reporters explain. "They didn't like what they heard."

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) told NBC News there was "a lot of tension in the room." And Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) complained that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) didn't want to "talk about the border."

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) told reporters, "People got up and walked out, because this is a waste of time."

Schumer, however, complained that the briefing "was immediately hijacked by" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who asked Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) to discuss the border.

Schumer said of McConnell, "The first question, instead of asking our panelists — he called on Lankford to give a five-minute talk about the negotiations on the border. And that wasn't the purpose of the meeting at all…. One of them started — it was disrespectful — started screaming at one of the generals and challenging him to why he didn't go to the border."

Read NBC News' full report at this link.

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