House Republicans are scrambling to find the votes for a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, as conservatives threaten to revolt over the exclusion of funding for deportations and re-up demands that the SAVE America Act be attached.
The Senate passed legislation to fund all of the DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol early Friday. That has angered conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus, who have been vocal that they will not vote for any deal that does not include funding for ICE.
On Friday, the Freedom Caucus laid out three key demands: funding for Border Patrol, funding for the child sex trafficking investigation division of ICE, and the SAVE America Act, which requires ID to cast a ballot and proof of citizenship to register to vote. If those three are not in the bill, they say that leadership will not get their support.
“We cannot believe the Senate abdicated its responsibility this morning,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD) told reporters. “The only thing we’re going to support is adding that funding into the bill, adding voter ID, and sending it back to the Senate, making them come back and do their work.”
Several House appropriators told reporters early Friday morning they had not seen the text of the DHS deal, so they were not sure how they would vote. When asked if there would be a vote on it Friday, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said, “I don’t know.”
Leadership has not made any official announcements on a path forward, but a notice from House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) instructed members that votes on DHS funding are possible on Friday and “through the weekend.”
“Members are strongly encouraged to remain in D.C.,” the whip notice reads. “Please stay tuned to future updates for precise timing of votes.”
Emmer told reporters that options are being discussed on how to bring the DHS bill to the floor.
“The suspensions can only be done Monday through whatever it is, so we can’t do that today unless we change the rules,” the whip said. “There are procedural things that are being discussed right now.”
Because of House rules, bills cannot be put on the floor under “suspension” on Thursdays, Fridays, or the weekend. Suspension allows leadership to bypass the normal committee process and send legislation directly to the House floor, but passage requires two-thirds support within the chamber. That means House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) would have to rely on Democratic votes.
Conservatives are telling leadership: Don’t even try it.
“We’re not supporting this on suspension,” Harris said. “We think that’s a very bad move for the American people.”
Johnson could also try to pass the bill along party lines but would likely hit GOP opposition in bringing the bill to the floor. Before coming to the floor, the House Rules Committee has to vote to advance the legislation.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), one of the conservatives on the Rules Committee, said there are no plans to bring up a procedural rule vote on the current version of the DHS deal.
“There is not support for a rule to move the bill that came out of the Senate today,” Roy told the Washington Examiner. “That is not going to happen. Whether or not there is a rule for some other version is what is being debated and determined, and that’s what we’ll figure out, hopefully shortly.”
Without conservatives such as Roy, the speaker would need help from Democrats to get the DHS deal out of the Rules Committee.
“I have no idea whether or not they’ll need any help,” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) told reporters. “I mean, ultimately, they’ve got to get the bill onto the floor.”
While House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has yet to take a stance on the deal, several of his top lieutenants have praised it.
SENATE SENDS DHS BILL TO HOUSE WITHOUT ICE FUNDING
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, said this was the deal Democrats were pushing for all along. DeLauro was leading a petition to force a vote on paying Transportation Security Administration workers, in addition to funding all of the DHS except ICE.
“I introduced this bill more than a month ago, and at every point the Republicans said no,” DeLauro told reporters. “They refused to even allow it to come up on the floor.”
Lauren Green contributed to this report.
