Republicans demand Biden use executive orders to do the stuff they can’t

On Thursday, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson sent a very anxious letter to President Joe Biden asking for him to use his executive powers: “I urge you to immediately take executive actions available to you under existing immigration laws to stem the record tide of illegal immigration.” Johnson also demanded Biden return the United States’ border policy back to its previously inhumane iteration under Donald Trump.

As almost every executive order Biden has signed has been met with Republican criticism, this was a new tactic. In fact, it was two whole weeks ago that the very same Mike Johnson was calling the president’s move to forgive another $5 billion of predatory student loan debt “unfair” and “wrong.”

As White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre remarked on Thursday when asked about the speaker’s letter, “I mean, look, we asked for more Border Patrol, right … And you got Republicans in Congress, who, especially in the House, who want to cut back, they actually want to do the opposite of what the President is trying to do. And so look, the President has done everything that he can, right, on his own.”