A deal to end the weeks-long partial government shutdown appears to have fallen apart. Republicans in the House are rejecting a deal that would fund most of DHS but not ICE and Border Patrol. A counterproposal by the House GOP is unlikely to pass the Senate soon and may not be approved by senators at all, thus extending the partial shutdown.
Speaker Johnson, House Republicans reject Senate deal on DHS
As Blavity previously reported, the Senate reached a deal early Friday morning to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security after a weekslong standoff in which Democrats refuse to approve DHS funding without reforms to ICE and Border Patrol.
Under the Senate deal, funding for DHS would be passed with the exception of money for ICE and Border Patrol, which would instead be left up to a separate negotiation. On Friday, Republicans in the House, led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), vehemently rejected that proposal.
“This gambit that was done last night is a joke. I’m quite convinced that it can’t be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill,” he said.
He and other Republicans in the House balked at the idea of passing a deal that did not include funding for ICE and Border Patrol.
House Republicans push alternative plan with ICE, Border Patrol funding
Maryland Rep. Andy Harris ripped the Senate deal.
“We can’t believe that the Senate abdicated its responsibility this morning,” he said. “This deal is bad for America. It’s bad for Americans.”
Harris also referenced President Trump’s recent pledge to use previously allocated funds to pay TSA agents, who have been working for over a month without pay due to the DHS standoff.
“The president has already said he’s going to fund TSA out of funds he has,” Harris said. “So it’s not going to affect the airports if we don’t do this today.”
Having rejected the Senate deal, House Republicans are instead pushing a proposal that would fund all of DHS, including ICE and Border Patrol, for 60 days.
New proposal faces hurdles in the Senate
The Republican plan to pass a short-term continuing resolution (CR) would likely run into problems. The Senate, having passed its compromise early Friday, has already adjourned for a two-week recess.
And even if the Senate eventually takes up the proposal coming from House Republicans, the GOP proposal will face Democratic opposition that will make it unlikely to pass the 60-vote threshold it would need to pass.
“We’ve been clear from day one,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York). “Democrats will fund critical homeland security functions — but we will not give a blank check to Trump’s lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms.”
Schumer rejected the House GOP proposal.
“A 60-day CR that locks in the status quo is dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it.”
With President Trump set to follow through on his promise to fund the TSA, the federal workers operating airport security are set to finally be paid again as the congressional standoff continues. But with key members of the Senate and the House each rejecting the proposals coming from the other chamber of Congress, it appears that the dispute over immigration enforcement reform and DHS funding will not end anytime soon.
