WASHINGTON — House Republicans voted Friday evening to pass a short-term funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that Democrats say is “dead on arrival” and will extend the partial government shutdown past the Easter holiday.
The vote of 213-203 came after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) rejected the Senate-passed bill, which would fund all of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
Three Democrats crossed party lines to vote in favor: Reps. Henry Cuellar, of Texas; Don Davis, of North Carolina; and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, of Washington.
Johnson called the Senate measure “a joke,” placing full blame for it on Democrats, even though Republicans control the Senate.
“They have taken hostage the funding processes of government so that they can impose their radical agenda on the American people,” he told reporters.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had vowed that the House bill would be “dead on arrival” in the Senate, meaning Democrats would not provide enough support to reach a 60-vote threshold.
The House-passed bill, which would fund DHS through May 22, is not expected to become law. Senators have departed for a two-week recess and are not expected to return until Monday, April 13. House members are also leaving for their two-week holiday break and are not expected to return until Tuesday, April 14.
Asked if President Donald Trump has endorsed his plan, Johnson told reporters on Friday afternoon: “I spoke to the president a few moments ago; he understands exactly what we’re doing and why, and he supports it.”
Democrats, despite repeatedly demanding reforms to ICE’s operating procedures following the fatal shootings of two American citizens in Minneapolis by federal agents earlier this year, have not received any of the requested changes.
Still, Schumer said he was proud of Democrats who “held the line” on their objection to funding ICE and CBP without reforms.
“Democrats held firm in our position that Donald Trump’s rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune slammed Democrats on the floor for what he framed as their refusal to negotiate in good faith. He said Democrats could have secured some of their desired reforms if they hadn’t complicated negotiations.
“We could be standing here right now passing a funding bill with a list of reforms if the Democrats had made the smallest effort to actually reach an agreement. But they didn’t, because it’s now clear to everyone, Democrats didn’t actually want a solution, they wanted an issue, politics over policy, self-interest over reform, pandering to their base over actually solving a problem,” Thune said.
