In allowing his union to endorse three Senate Democrats, Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, behaved in a manner that was "self-serving," a Trump administration official said. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images White House Trump officials irked that Border Patrol union endorsed 3 Senate Democrats

Trump White House and administration officials are furious that the union representing a key Trump constituency — Border Patrol agents — endorsed three Senate Democrats.

It's an “egregious” action on “the existential issue of this election,” one White House official told POLITICO.


The focus of administration ire is Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents 14,000 border agents and support personnel.

In allowing his union to endorse Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Judd behaved in a manner that was "self-serving," a Trump administration official said, "rather than putting the Border Patrol first."

Judd appeared in TV ads for McCaskill and Tester. In the McCaskill ad, Judd said: “Those ads against McCaskill on immigration just aren’t true. She was one of only four Democrats to vote to end sanctuary cities.” Judd also praised McCaskill's record on border security.

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NBPC was among a handful of labor unions that endorsed candidate Donald Trump in 2016. Since then, Judd and his union have thrown in their lot with the administration's immigration hardliners — for instance, by suggesting that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is too soft on immigration, a criticism previously voiced by Trump and by National Security Adviser John Bolton. Asked Thursday on Fox Business whether Nielsen failed to do her job, Judd said, "She's not holding these people pending their deportation proceedings, so I would say yes."

The administration official objected to this criticism, saying DHS is bound by laws that limit the actions it may take. Judd “simply doesn’t understand immigration laws,” the administration official said. “Allegedly supporting the president but then attacking his top lieutenants on immigration just falls flat with everyone.”

NBPC has endorsed more Republicans during this cycle than Democrats, including Senate Republican candidates Martha McSally in Arizona and Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas, along with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.

But NBPC's decision to endorse McCaskill, Tester and Heitcamp "opens up a pretty serious rift," the White House official said.

In response, Judd told POLITICO that his union, which is a member of the AFL-CIO, is not a partisan organization. “We’ve endorsed Republicans," Judd said, "We’ve endorsed Democrats. We always have. We endorse those who we feel are strong on border security, period. ... If they’re mad at us because they want us to be a partisan organization, that’s up to them.”

In its 361-word September endorsement of McCaskill against Republican challenger Josh Hawley, NBPC wrote: “Sen. McCaskill has risen above the partisanship of Washington to genuinely listen to the concerns of Border Patrol agents and to fight for the increase in resources and staff needed at the border.”

When NBPC announced its endorsement of Tester, also in September, Judd said: “The Republicans don’t own border security [as an issue] ... There are Democrats that do support border security. There’s a lot more that run away from it unfortunately, but Sen. Tester is not one who does that.”

Judd told POLITICO that he was notified Thursday night that Trump was upset at him because NBPC endorsed some Democrats. “I won’t tell you by whom," he said. "That was the very first I ever heard of it."

The warning came, ironically, less than 24 hours after Trump tweeted: “Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council is right when he says on @foxandfriends that the Democrat inspired laws make it tough for us to stop people at the Border. MUST BE CHANDED [sic], but I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency. They will be stopped!”

Judd said that his union has been completely behind Trump in his administration’s efforts, led by senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, to crack down on illegal immigration. “All you have to do is look at all the media interviews that we have done. We have nothing to heap praise on what the president is trying to do as far as border security.”

But the White House official said, “We are in this epic struggle over the next few weeks for control of the Senate, in which the president has framed the issue quite correctly as a Republican Senate that’s with the president on border security or a Democrat Senate that’s not. So campaigning for any Senate Democrat, particularly in races where the president is spending time campaigning against that incumbent, is going directly against the president on border security.”

Ted Hesson contributed to this report.