House REJECTS Senate-Approved DHS Funding Bill — Here’s Why

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Late Thursday night, the Senate unanimously passed a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Great, right? Shutdown over?

Well, not quite…

You see, it would have had to be approved by the House of Representatives first.

And, there’s just one problem: the Senate-approved bill doesn’t even fund ICE or Border Patrol!

House Republicans flat-out refused to entertain this absurd version of the bill.

Instead, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson held a vote on a bill that would fund all of the DHS.

He explained why here:

Speaker Johnson also held a press conference blasting the Senate’s move:

 

President Trump supported Speaker Johnson’s move to fund the DHS in its entirety, rather than just parts of it.

Friday night, the House ended up passing a short-term measure that would fund the DHS — in full — until May 22nd.

Per The New York Times:

Revolting over an agreement their own party struck with Senate Democrats to end the crisis, which had passed the Senate before dawn on Friday, House Republican leaders — with President Trump’s backing — refused to take it up. They derided the Senate plan for hewing too closely to Democrats’ position by omitting money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, the two agencies responsible for carrying out Mr. Trump’s deportation crackdown, which are operating under previously approved funds.

“House Republicans are not going to be any part of any effort to reopen our borders or to stop immigration enforcement,” Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference on Friday afternoon. “This gambit that was done last night is a joke.”

Mr. Johnson called the Senate-passed deal engineered by Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, “ridiculousness,” and instead teed up a stopgap measure to fund the entire department until May 22.

The House passed that measure on a 213 to 203 vote late Friday night, before leaving Washington for a scheduled two-week break.

The vote left funding for the Department of Homeland Security up in the air, with competing bills pending in each chamber — both controlled by Republicans — and neither apparently willing to approve the other’s proposal.

This funding bill will now go back to the Senate — who have already left D.C. for a two-week-long Easter Recess!

Thankfully, President Trump took direct action to pay our TSA agents.

However, some employees at other DHS agencies — like FEMA — and the Coast Guard are still going without pay.

Meanwhile, Senators like Bernie Sanders are flying high:

HYPOCRISY: Bernie Sanders Caught Flying First-Class Amid DHS Shutdown

It’s absolutely ridiculous.

Fully funding the DHS and paying American citizens should not be controversial!

Get it done, Congress!



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