House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) came to an agreement with the House Freedom Caucus on Friday to move forward with a 60-day stopgap spending bill that would fully support the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This stands in contrast to the Senate-passed bill that will not be considered by the House. House conservatives expressed their concerns over the Senate’s package, which, while expected to pass, fails to allocate funds for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) suggested that Republicans might try to fund these agencies through reconciliation, potentially needing only 51 votes in the Senate to achieve that.
The Freedom Caucus made it clear that they wouldn’t back funding for DHS unless it included measures for voter ID verification, enhanced border security, and investigations into child sex trafficking. Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) remarked that not addressing these issues right away wouldn’t disrupt airports and insisted that the House amendment could easily be passed by the Senate when they reconvene next week after a two-week recess.
Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) stated, “The Senate bill is not a starter. We’re going to propose something that we can actually support.” He emphasized that they won’t accept inadequate provisions from the Senate.
Following the Senate’s approval of the spending bill, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) claimed that Republicans had conceded to their demands to fund DHS without giving a blank check to ICE and CBP. Schumer asserted that Democrats had remained steadfast, unwilling to support additional funding for what he termed “Trump’s rogue and violent militia groups” without significant reforms.
In response, Thune summarized the situation after what he called 40 days of Democratic delays concerning DHS funding. He claimed that funding for ICE and CBP comes from tax cuts for working families and that any delay would only lead to increased funding for these agencies via budget reconciliation. Thune also expressed concerns that the Democratic Party was aligning itself with open-border policies ahead of the upcoming elections, questioning the competence of Democratic leadership in negotiating a resolution.
