The House of Representatives passed a Senate-modified spending package to reopen the government by a 217-214 margin Tuesday.
The measure passed with 42 defections: 21 Republicans voting against it and 21 Democrats voting for it.
Hardline conservatives such as Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Keith Self, R-Texas, voted against the package. There were also Democrat defectors, such as swing district Reps. Don Davis of North Carolina and Henry Cuellar of Texas.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the chamber’s top Democrat appropriator, voted for the bill. Democrat leaders, such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, voted against the package.
Beyond helping end a short-lived shutdown, the vote sets the stage for a congressional debate on immigration policy and law enforcement.
Since Saturday, the federal government’s discretionary spending authority has expired for key agencies.
Senate Democrats and Republicans crafted a deal on Friday to fund the State Department and financial regulators, as well as agencies overseeing war, education, labor, health, and housing.
However, the Senate funding deal, which passed by a 71-29 vote, punted on the issue of immigration by providing a short two-week funding extension to the Department of Homeland Security.
Democrats are demanding legislative restrictions on immigration law enforcement amid uproar over the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Some House Republicans called to amend the bill with conservative policy riders. In response, President Donald Trump said on social media on Monday that there could be “NO CHANGES at this time” to this bill.
Republican Grumblings
Some House Republicans on Tuesday morning grumbled about the Senate’s package and the decision to punt on DHS.
“The Senate should have passed what we sent them,” Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, told The Daily Signal. “Unfortunately, they’re trying to use this [immigration] as a political football to score points.”
Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, rejected the idea that the DHS bill—which came out of bipartisan negotiations—should be negotiated any further.
“Look, this is a negotiated bill already,” Moore told The Daily Signal. “This is all political. This doesn’t have anything to do with policy.”
Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., a freshman from a battleground district, accepted that the House had to compromise with the Senate.
“It obviously wasn’t our preferred choice of things, but we’re not the only chamber in the capitol,” Barrett told The Daily Signal of the Senate’s re-negotiated package. “I’m going to support this effort to get as much of the government funded fully as we can and work on the rest of it as we go.”
The Great Immigration Debate
Now, Congress will head into negotiations over immigration policy, with only 10 days before homeland security funding dries up.
Democrats have requested a prohibition on agents wearing masks, as well as a requirement of judicial warrants to carry out deportations and the use of body-worn cameras.
“These are commonsense reforms, ones that Americans know and expect from law enforcement,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said last week. “If Republicans refuse to support them, they are choosing chaos over order.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., however, has said this discussion must involve conservatives receiving concessions, as well.
“Any conversation … has to include a discussion of how to make it safer for our federal law enforcement agents to effectively carry out their duties,” Thune said Monday.
Barrett told The Daily Signal that Trump’s involvement in negotiations gave him faith that the coming days’ negotiations would produce a desired outcome.
“They’re negotiating with the president on this, and I think he’s obviously established credibility on immigration enforcement,” Barrett told The Daily Signal.
Barrett expressed skepticism about removing the masks, acknowledging personal attacks on agents and saying, “I’d be curious to see what their proposal is to keep these law enforcement officers safe.”
Moore said of the calls for mask removal, “The mask thing is ridiculous, because they are going out there and systematically doxxing these guys and folks who are out there doing their job, enforcing the law, and it’s putting their families and themselves in harm’s way.”
Leverage
House Republicans, however, told The Daily Signal they feel the cards are stacked when it comes to immigration, thanks to a party-line July budget reconciliation bill, which has already provided billions to DHS’ deportation efforts.
“You’re not defunding [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. ICE is funded,” Moore told The Daily Signal. “This is going to hurt [the Transportation Security Administration], this is going to hurt the Coast Guard, and this is going to hurt [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] when we have a bunch of storms rolling in here this winter.”
Cloud said that Republicans also have the option of passing another party-line bill to fund immigration law enforcement outside of the appropriations process.
“It’s certainly an option that’s on the table,” Cloud said of another reconciliation bill. “Not to mention … through the One Big Beautiful Bill [Act] we’ve already funded what their supposed main objection is, so it’s political posturing.”