Monday morning news: January 8, 2024

Border legislation » On Capitol Hill, lawmakers continue to wrangle over legislation to tackle the crisis at the U.S. southern border. Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar represents a border district in south Texas.

CUELLAR: I think there's enough Republicans and Democrats that can say, Are we doing the right thing at the border, and if we have the right repercussions at the border, we can stop this historic numbers of people.

But some Republicans say they haven’t been particularly encouraged so far by the White House’s response to the border policy shifts Republicans are demanding.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking with CBS News quoted the deputy chief of the Border Patrol, who said, “It's as if I'm at an open fire hydrant. I don't need more buckets. I need to turn the flow off.'"

JOHNSON: And the way you do that is with policy changes. We’re just asking the White House to apply common sense, and they seem to be completely uninterested in doing so.

The White House says Republicans have been pushing a radical agenda.

GOP lawmakers say they want the Biden administration to, among other things, reinstate the remain in Mexico rule for asylum seekers and end so-called catch and release policies.

Border report » As that debate continues, a new report confirms that the Biden administration has released millions of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border inside the United States. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: The Office of Homeland Security Statistics reports that the administration has released 2.3 million migrants inside the country.

But that figure does not include so-called got-aways. Those are people who border agents caught illegally crossing the border but were not able to apprehend.

Border officials have reportedly confirmed more than 1.7 million got-aways since January of 2021. That brings the total influx of migrants from the border under President Biden to at least 4 million.

But that number does not include migrants who evaded detection at the border altogether. And that means the total influx is likely much higher than 4-million.

Still, some say the report shows that the Biden administration is deporting more illegal immigrants than Republicans suggest.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Government spending deal » Meantime, top lawmakers have reached an agreement to set spending levels for the current year which could head off a partial government shutdown.

The deal largely maintains the prior spending agreement. But it does make a small debt in Washington overspending with $16 billion dollars in additional cuts.

The agreement also speeds up $20 billion in cuts to the IRS and retracts $6 billion in unspent COVID relief funds.

Speaker Johnson called it a significant Republican victory. President Biden praised the deal for averting a shutdown. But …

Lawmakers still have to hammer out the details of the funding package.

Blinken in Jordan » Secretary of State Tony Blinken addressed reporters in Qatar on Sunday amid another round of high-stakes diplomacy related to the Israel-Hamas war.

BLINKEN: We have been intensely focused on working to prevent the conflict from spreading. And that is indeed a major focus of what is now my fourth visit to the region since October 7th.

Blinken met with leaders in Jordan and Qatar about containing the conflict and about providing more humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

The secretary also said that civilians displaced by the war should be allowed to return home as soon as it's safe to do so. 

He added that the United States rejects the calls by some Israeli lawmakers calling for a resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza.

Blinken’s latest Middle East tour, which includes visits to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, West Bank, and Egypt.

Lloyd Austin » Republican lawmakers say they’re alarmed by a lack of transparency at the Pentagon after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spent much of the week in the hospital without providing proper notice to Congress.

Sen. James Lankford serves on the Senate committee that oversees Homeland Security and the functioning of the government.

LANKFORD: We’re at a time of a lot of turmoil international and suddenly the Secretary of Defense—more than just a matter of wasn't there—actually sent over false information saying and working from home when he’s not actually available at all that's a whole different issue.

Austin’s hospital stay was related to complications from an elective surgery. He’s said to be recuperating.

The secretary acknowledged the situation was not handled correctly and said, “I commit to doing better.”

Alaska Airlines accident » The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a terrifying incident aboard an Alaska Airlines flight over the weekend.

NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told reporters last night that investigators have been busy.

HOMENDY: They took photos and they identified the components that they want to send back to our lab for further evaluation.

Shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon part of the fuselage of the plane blew out in midair, forcing an emergency landing.

One passenger told KGW TV:

LE: We just heard like a loud, “bang!” or like a “boom!” and I look up and all the air masks are out, or down, and I look to my left and there’s this like, huge gaping hole.

It left a refrigerator-sized hole. But no one was seriously hurt.

Homendy said her agency still hasn’t found the part of the plane that blew out. Officials are asking residents and businesses in the area for help in locating it.

HOMENDY: This is a key missing component, and that’s why we want to find it.

The plane on which the accident occurred was a Boeing 737 Max, the same model that was grounded for nearly two years after a pair of fatal crashes. However, Boeing did not manufacture the part of the fuselage that blew out. It was installed by a different company.

Nevertheless, Alaska and United Airlines have been forced to once again ground their 737 Max jets while the FAA also looks into the matter. In the meantime, hundreds of flights have already been canceled.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: wealth and taxes on Legal Docket. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

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