WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine’s 2nd District voted with House Republicans to pass a resolution Thursday that condemns Vice President Kamala Harris for her role in the White House’s work on the border with Mexico.
The symbolic resolution echoes an attack line that Republican Donald Trump has taken against Harris since she rose to become the likely Democratic presidential nominee. All House Republicans and plus Golden and five other Democrats — all of whom are in tough reelection races in swing districts — voted for the resolution.
President Joe Biden tasked Harris early in his administration with addressing the root causes of migration. Border crossings eventually became a major political liability for Biden when they reached historic levels. After Biden announced significant restrictions on asylum applications at the border in June, arrests for illegal crossings have fallen.
It remains to be seen whether the border will become a political liability for Harris as it was for Biden. She has virtually locked down the Democratic presidential nomination after Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday. Trump, if elected president, has pledged to deport millions of people and has made anti-immigration rhetoric a central focus of his campaign.
The House vote showed some early signs of cracks in the confidence that Democrats have so far bestowed on Harris.
The Democrats who voted for the resolution were mostly from battleground districts and had previously been critical of Biden. The measure called for “elected officials who understand the gravity of the crisis at the border and who will execute the policies to fix the border crisis.”
Golden said in a statement that he would “continue to be critical of this administration” when it comes to the border.
The issue came up in his 2022 race with former Rep. Bruce Poliquin, although the two had relatively scant differences on border policy at that time, since Golden has voted repeatedly for border security funds and opposed so-called “sanctuary cities.”
His 2024 opponent, state Rep. Austin Theriault, R-Fort Kent, has tried early in his campaign to tie Golden to Biden on the border, highlighting his vote last year against House Republicans’ signature border bill, which would revive many Trump-era policies but has no chance to get through the Democratic-controlled Senate.
As vice president, Harris was tasked with overseeing diplomatic efforts to deal with issues spurring migration in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, as well as pressing them to strengthen enforcement on their own borders. The Biden administration wanted to develop and put in place a long-term strategy that gets at the root causes of migration from those countries.
Most House Democrats tried to defend how Harris has handled the job. They also repeatedly pointed out that Republicans rejected a border and immigration deal that the White House negotiated with Senate leaders earlier this year.
Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York, who won a special election this year on a campaign that focused on border security, said Harris has some potential strengths on the issue. He said Harris’ relationship with Mexico’s president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, and Harris’ past as a prosecutor could prove to be assets when it comes to the border.
“I think now she has to emphasize the fact that she recognizes that the southern border is a problem,” Suozzi said.
BDN writer Michael Shepherd contributed to this report.
