WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced Friday he will hold a House vote on a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security on a short-term basis for 60 days.
Johnson blasted the Senate-passed bill, which would fund all of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, calling it “a joke.” He placed full blame for it on Democrats, even though Republicans control the Senate and the bill passed by unanimous consent.
“They have taken hostage the funding processes of government so that they can impose their radical agenda on the American people,” Johnson told reporters.
His remarks came around the same time President Donald Trump signed an order directing the Department of Homeland Security to pay Transportation Security Administration employees who have not been paid for working during the DHS shutdown, leading to high TSA callout rates that have created long lines for passengers at U.S. airports. But Trump might not have the legal authority to pay TSA without approval from Congress.
Johnson’s legislative proposal jeopardizes the Senate’s effort to fund the TSA and end extreme delays at airports. He said a House vote would take place “as soon as possible” after it gets through the Rules Committee.
But even if the bill passes the House, it’s highly unlikely to become law. The Senate left town for a two-week recess, and Democratic senators have vowed to block funding for ICE and CBP without restraints on immigration enforcement operations.
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Asked if Trump has endorsed his plan, Johnson told reporters: “I spoke to the president a few moments ago; he understands exactly what we’re doing and why, and he supports it.”
But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned that a House bill that funds ICE and CBP without guardrails would go nowhere in the Senate, where it would require 60 votes.
“We’ve been clear from day one: 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 said. “A 60-day CR that locks in the status quo is dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it.”
Trump has not publicly weighed in on the Senate bill or the proposed 60-day House measure.
Johnson’s plan comes after a bloc of House conservatives expressed outrage over the Senate bill and vowed to vote against it, complicating any move toward swift passage in the House.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said senators caved by agreeing to leave out money for ICE and CPB.
“I mean, they got a vacation coming, they’re ready to get the heck out of town. They’re not handling any legislation,” he said of the Senate. “If this is just some trickery to get them home for a dadgum vacation, then, no, I’d say let’s stay here and work.”
Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, joined several other right-wing hard-liners in demanding that the Senate-passed DHS bill be amended to add funding for ICE and voter ID provisions.
“The Senate acted cowardly last night,” Self said. “They passed this bill with five members on the floor through UC and then they scurried like rats off.”
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said the Senate-passed bill is “irresponsible” and added that voter identification provisions and parts of ICE funding must be included.
“Those two things will have to be in,” Norman said.
Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., said Democrats won’t support a bill to fund ICE without constraints on ICE after immigration enforcement agents killed two Americans in Minneapolis.
“I think we made it very clear, and the American public is demanding some sort of guardrails on an agency that has basically terrorized communities across this country, resulted in the death of two American citizens,” she said. “We have shone a light on just how rogue ICE was acting.”
Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate Democrat from New York, said Americans are “sick” of the back-and-forth over funding the government.
“They’re sick of politics. They don’t want this, this finger pointing. They don’t want this game-playing, this blame game,” he said. “They want us to do the job, to find agreement and get the job done.”
