By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WINONA LAKE — Rudy Yakym steered clear of talk about former president Donald Trump’s apparent attempts to sabotage US Senate efforts on border security.
The Second District Republican Congressman was asked about what appeared to be the collapse of a deal in the Senate after it came to light that Trump wanted Republicans to oppose it in order to prevent President Joe Biden from claiming a political victory on what has become a top issue in the 2024 campaign.
Multiple Senate Republicans expressed outrage last week after it became apparent that Trump was lobbying against a compromise on border security.
Sen. GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, was quoted by CNN saying:
“I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is … really appalling.”
Indiana Sen. Todd Young — also a Republican — said such a move by Trump would be “tragic.”
Trump is running to unseat Biden in the General Election and has gained steam in recent weeks, easily claiming election victories in Iowa and New Hampsire.
Yakym, who participated in an event at Lakeland Christian Academy Friday afternoon, spoke to a group of reporters afterward and would not address Trump’s role in what has been described as bipartisan efforts by the Senate to pass a border security bill.
“We don’t even have a bill yet. So there is no bill. There is no negotiated text for us to review,” he said. “There are negotiations that are ongoing in the Senate to take border security and tie it to other international security, but here is no bill yet.”
“The immigration bill that we passed, HR 2, a little over a year ago, we sent it over to the Senate and Chuck Schumer has done absolutely nothing with it,” Yakym said, ignoring the question.
Asked about Sen. Young’s objections, he replied:
“What Americans sent us there to do … is to ensure our borders are secure, which is why we passed HR 2. I’ve called on the Senate to pass that bill.”
Yakym also ignored a question on whether he’s worried about feuding between Texas and the federal government over the use of razor wire to prevent foreigners from crossing the Texas border.
In recent days, numerous state governors were lining up in support of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on the issue.
Yakym again deflected.
“I’m very concerned about what’s going on with our southern border. Every single month that goes by, we have a new record of people coming across the southern border,” he said.
Another reporter asked about what issues the community might have on their mind.
Yakym pointed to consumer prices.
“The inflation we’re seeing across our country is causing interest rates to increase, which is putting housing out of reach for many, many Americans and what they want to see, for me as a member of the House Budget Committee, is to work to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington,” he said.
Inflation and interest rates have actually both been falling in recent months.
He was also asked about the local interest in transportation issues such as US 30 and the Warsaw airport.
Yakym used the question to point out that Indiana is last in discretionary grant awards (per capita) from the federal government even though Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (former longtime Hoosier) oversees related issues for the administration.
He said they’re working with local governments on applications for discretionary awards.
