WHCD shooting fails to budge Dems on DHS shutdown
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the U.S. Capitol on April 14. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
The shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday has done little to bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans in Congress on reopening the Department of Homeland Security.
Why it matters: Republicans have focused their response to the incident on arguing that Democrats should drop their demands to reform immigration enforcement and fund the entire department.
- But Democrats are pushing back: "I think that the idea of using any one incidence of violence for a political end is pretty sad and unfortunate," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told Axios.
- The Senate passed a bill that would fund all of DHS except ICE and Customs and Border Protection, but House Republicans have refused to take it up and instead passed their own bill to fund all of DHS.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) openly clashed about the impasse on Monday.
Driving the news: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) signaled little wiggle room for bipartisan compromise at a press conference Monday.
- "Donald Trump and House Republicans have now shut down the Department of Homeland Security for more than 70 days because ... [they] wanted to continue to drive their extreme immigration agenda," Jeffries said.
- The bipartisan Senate bill, he said, "has been languishing in the House of Representatives," calling to "bring that bill to the floor today."
Yes, but: Johnson has little appetite to do that, telling reporters the Senate bill has "problematic language because it was haphazardly drafted."
- "We have a modified version that I think is going to be much better for both chambers. It doesn't change most of the substance," he said.
- Republicans have called to reopen DHS in its entirety in the aftermath of the shooting by noting that the Secret Service is a sub-agency of the department, though essential personnel are currently being paid through the One Big, Beautiful Bill.
What they're saying: Democrats largely backed up Jeffries, saying the party should not budge on its demands for reforms to ICE and CBP in the wake of the shooting.
- Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told Axios: "I don't understand what the Republicans are saying, like it actually makes no sense at all."
- Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nevada), the chair of House Democrats' battleground-district members, told Axios, "we had a DHS bill that passed the Senate that [House] Republicans haven't passed."
- Said Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.), one of Democrats' most endangered incumbents, said that while he wants DHS to ensure the safety of Trump and his top officials, "I believe the same applies to the American people."
Yes, but: Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), a centrist who previously served as the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, told Axios, "I think we both could give a little."
- "I think we need to make a deal, we need to get DHS open ... no question about it," he added. "Let's see what the proposal is."
- Moskowitz pointed to bipartisan legislation he has introduced to move sub-agencies like the Secret Service and the Transportation Security Agency out of DHS.
