Mike Johnson will wait on holding a vote to fund DHS
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House Speaker Mike Johnson alongside other members of GOP leadership on March 27. Photo: Heather Diehl/Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Republicans on a call Thursday he won't hold a vote on a DHS funding bill until the Senate makes significant progress on funding for ICE and CBP, sources told Axios.
Why it matters: Johnson's members are deeply frustrated with leadership's plan to fund the agency, and he doesn't have the support to pass a DHS funding bill without ICE and CBP right now. But any delay will prolong what's already been a record-long shutdown at the agency.
- Johnson told his conference he thinks the Senate could pass a narrow reconciliation package funding ICE and CBP within two weeks, one source on the call said.
- Progress, or near-completion of the reconciliation funding for immigration enforcement in the Senate would unlock needed GOP support in the House.
- President Trump also further eased urgency Thursday when he announced he'll pay DHS workers via executive action.
Driving the news: Frustration boiled over during a two-and-a-half-hour House GOP conference call Thursday, where House Republicans vented about Johnson's and Senate Majority Leader John Thune's (R-S.D.) two-track funding approach for DHS.
- There was a widespread feeling among Republicans that they no longer trust the Senate after last week's split over DHS funding, sources told Axios.
- Members worry that if the House moves first on passing a DHS funding bill without ICE and CBP, the Senate could backtrack on funding those two agencies.
- One member said none of their colleagues are happy, which is why many of them need to see real progress from the Senate.
Another friction point: Several members want to strip language from the Senate bill that zeroes out ICE and CBP funding, avoiding a vote seen as defunding law enforcement.
- Johnson signaled openness to that idea, two sources on the call said. But any changes would require Senate passage again.
Catch up quick: House Republicans just five days ago rejected the two-track funding approach, with some vowing to never support a DHS funding package without money for ICE and CBP.
- But Johnson and Thune said Wednesday they'll advance a plan to fund the DHS — excluding ICE and CBP — with those agencies deferred to a later reconciliation bill.
- The plan mirrors what the Senate proposed and passed with unanimous consent just last Friday.
- Johnson on Friday called the Senate bill a "joke," vowing that "Republicans are not going to be a party to this," referencing excluding ICE and CBP funding from the appropriations package.
State of play: Waiting on Senate reconciliation action could make Johnson's path to passage easier.
- A narrow reconciliation bill focused only on ICE and CBP would be simpler and faster to pass.
- For members pushing for more, Johnson floated a third, broader reconciliation package, sources said. Lawmakers would work simultaneously on the two reconciliation packages.
- That package could include cuts to safety net programs, health care changes and parts of the SAVE America Act.
Behind the scenes: Members were still discussing other fallback options.
- Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) suggested sending a short-term funding extension paired with ICE reforms already backed by Border Czar Tom Homan to the Senate and forcing Democrats to vote that down, one source on the call said.
- Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) urged leaders to send a message to Democrats so they "don't pull this crap in the future," by boosting ICE funding in reconciliation, an idea Johnson said he liked, the source said.
