Lawmakers in the Senate on Tuesday worked to finalize a deal to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and overhaul immigration policy in exchange for unlocking funding for foreign allies, including Israel and Ukraine.

While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that negotiators are “close” to reaching an agreement, there are still concerns that hardline Republicans in the House would kill the bill because it does not go far enough. 

The disagreements between the two chambers led to the White House accusing House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., of “getting in the way” of the negotiations.

Senate leaders this week expressed optimism that the discussions are approaching the finish line on President Joe Biden’s more than $100 billion request, which includes funding for Ukraine as it repels Russia’s invasion, Israel as it fights Hamas, humanitarian aid for Gaza, as well as funds for Indo-Pacific allies, including Taiwan, to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democratic negotiator on the compromise, told reporters Monday that talks are “largely done,” and the bill could be considered as soon as this week. He reiterated that point at a press conference with Senate Democratic leadership on Tuesday.

“The time to act on the supplemental is now,” Murphy said. “We have been at these negotiations for four months. We are at the finish line. We still have a handful of issues to resolve, but there is no reason for us to wait weeks to get this on the floor." 

“I am hopeful that our Republican colleagues will work with us to wrap up the supplemental, both the policy changes and the funding necessary to effectuate the policy changes in the next few days, so we can answer the call for Ukraine,” he added. 

It remains to be seen whether the border policy changes, which have been negotiated in private with top White House officials, will be enough to satisfy most Republican senators. Democrats have questions of their own, including whether the border policies will harm migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., and some in the party are pushing to condition military aid for Israel on humanitarian standards.

The proposal would toughen the asylum process with a goal of cutting the number of migrants who come to the southern U.S. border to make an asylum claim. The group has mostly reached agreements on policy changes, but on Monday was working with Senate appropriators to determine funding levels for the programs.

Biden had already requested $14 billion in the national security package to bolster the immigration system, including sending financial aid to local governments that have absorbed the historic number of people migrating to the U.S. But the Senate proposal also calls for the expansion of a Biden administration program that tracks families seeking asylum with electronic surveillance-like ankle bracelet monitors until they are given an initial interview to determine if they are likely fleeing persecution in their home country, people familiar with the talks told The Associated Press.

The top Democrat and Republican in the Senate agreed with Murphy on the importance of getting the bill passed — and quickly — while emphasizing the importance of bipartisan compromise.

“We're working hard on a bipartisan basis to try to come up with a piece of legislation that will actually help to solve this crisis at the border,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday at a GOP leadership press conference. “But I don't want to lose track of what the rest of the supplemental is about. I mean, the world is basically at war.”

McConnell called it an “ideal time” to address border security.

“If this was not divided government, we would have the opportunity to do anything about the border,” the Minority Leader added. “In fact, I don't think we'd get 60 votes for any border plan if we had a fully Republican government … this is a unique opportunity where divided government has given us an opportunity to get an outcome.”

Schumer, at Tuesday’s presser, stressed that funding for Ukraine is where he and his Republican counterpart see “eye-to-eye."

“Sen. McConnell and I both believe that the Senate moving first, with hopefully as good of a margin we can get, will then help us prevail upon the House to do something bipartisan as well,” Schumer said, emphasizing: “Too much hangs in the balance for our border, for our friends around the world.”

But some far-right Republicans have said they will oppose the measure. Some, like Speaker Johnson, are pushing for passage of the House GOP-passed immigration bill known as the Secure the Border Act, or H.R. 2, which Schumer last year declared “dead on arrival” in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Some could also be taking cues from former President Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate for president in November, who wrote on his Truth Social platform: “I do not think we should do a Border Deal, at all, unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions & Millions of people.”

After a meeting at the White House last week with other congressional leaders, Johnson indicated that he would not commit to any bipartisan Ukraine-border compromise. 

“If the bill looks like some of the things that have been rumored, of course it’s dead in the House, because it wouldn’t solve the problem,” Johnson told CNN last week after the meeting, adding: “If the best we can get does not solve the problem and not stem the flow, then it will not be acceptable in the House side and I have said that very clearly from day one, we have to solve the problem.”

At a briefing on Tuesday, Biden administration officials urged Johnson to accept a bipartisan proposal “if they really want to” address border security.

“I think we have proven Republicans in the Senate, and Democrats in the Senate have proven that we actually want to work on this issue, on this broken system, and so if they are real about this, if they want to fix this problem, then they would get involved,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. “They would get involved, but they haven’t. This is an issue that Americans care about, and they want to see it done in a bipartisan way. That’s what we’re trying to do. That’s what we’ve tried. I don’t know why House Republicans continue to get in the way.”

“House Republicans could speak for themselves, and we are saying to them, ‘Why are they getting in the way?” she continued. “Why don’t they come to the table and actually have these negotiations with us as well?’”

Johnson’s communications director called Jean-Pierre’s comments “completely asinine” in a post on social media.

“The White House is actually trying to blame the House going on Christmas recess over a month ago for the Senate's inability to produce a border security bill,” Taylor Haulsee, Johnson’s communications director, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.  ​

The Associated Press contributed to this report.