House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will vote “as soon as possible” on its own plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security after a Senate-approved bill to reopen most of the agency ran into problems in the House.
The Senate passed overnight legislation that would fund the Transportation Security Administration but leaves out funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. House Republicans rejected that measure, and Johnson strongly criticized the Senate bill, calling it “detestable,” “a joke” and “unconscionable.”
Johnson said House Republicans will advance their own bill that includes funding for immigration enforcement — a provision Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has already labeled “dead on arrival.” Johnson also faulted Democrats for negotiating late and leaving for the holiday, saying it was “unconscionable” to expect the House to accept a last-minute deal.
The Senate’s version omitted ICE and CBP funding as a concession to Democrats after lawmakers demanded reforms following the killing of two Americans in Minneapolis. Johnson reiterated that House Republicans intend to pursue a bill that restores immigration-enforcement funding.
Many senators have already left town and would have to return to Washington to consider any new House-passed measure, raising the prospect that the partial government shutdown and related airport disruptions could continue. Democrats blamed House Republicans for the stalemate.
Democrats argued the bipartisan Senate bill had broad support and should be brought to the floor immediately “so we can pay TSA agents, so we can end the chaos,” they said.
President Trump signed an executive order to pay TSA officers, and the administration said those workers are expected to receive paychecks as soon as Monday. The White House said the money to pay TSA employees will come from the president’s so‑called “big, beautiful bill.”
The House was expected to vote on its own DHS bill later that night.
— Nikole Killion, CBS News