The House narrowly passed $1.2 trillion in government funding Thursday, overcoming intense Democratic opposition to funding Immigrations and Customs Enforcement as the agency surges operations in Minneapolis and other cities.
The Homeland Security funding bill — which would allocate $64.4 billion to the department, including $10 billion for ICE — was approved 220-207, with seven Democrats joining all but one Republican in voting yes.
Lawmakers are also expected to pass a package of three other bills to fund other agencies, with a wider bipartisan margin.
The moves should significantly lower the chances of another government shutdown at the end of the month, though the package would still need to pass the Senate before Jan. 30 to become law. Many Senate Democrats are also likely to oppose funding for ICE, but Senate leaders are expected to bundle the bills together to make it tougher for senators to vote against it. Seven Democrats would need to vote with Republicans for the funding package to get around a filibuster and pass.
Democrats have argued Congress should not approve funding for the immigration enforcement agency after officers sent to Minnesota and other states have taken action against U.S. citizens. An ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renée Good this month, prompting mass demonstrations in the Twin Cities. A week later, another ICE officer shot an undocumented Venezuelan man, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, in the leg during an arrest. ICE also began an operation in Maine on Wednesday.
The agency has flooded cities across the country over the past year, which President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem have said is necessary to deport undocumented immigrants with criminal records. But agents have been recorded aggressively detaining individuals, including many U.S. citizens or undocumented immigrants without violent criminal records.
Democratic negotiators on the House Appropriations Committee unsuccessfully pushed to include additional measures in the Homeland Security bill to ensure ICE does not deport U.S. citizens, to force ICE agents to use body cameras and to bar ICE agents from shooting at moving vehicles. The bill does reduce funding for ICE’s enforcement and removal operations by $115 million, decrease the number of detention beds by 5,500, set aside funding for body cameras for agents, and reduce funding for Border Patrol.
“It’s a joke. Real accountability means that they follow what the laws of this country are. They are moving the goalposts every single minute,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota).
A few Democrats shared their colleagues’ outrage over ICE’s actions but argued that denying Homeland Security funding would also affect other key agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration. The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Connecticut), who negotiated the legislation with Republicans, initially argued for the bill but announced Thursday afternoon that she would vote against it.
Those Democrats also argued that a shutdown or funding extension would do little to restrain the agency, which received $75 billion in the Republican tax and spending bill last year that could fund its operations even if the spending bill failed, and that blocking the measure would only give the administration more leeway to decide how Homeland Security money is spent.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), the top Democrat on the appropriations subcommittee for Homeland Security, said he told his caucus on Wednesday that he believes their bill is better than a temporary extension known as a continuing resolution, which would keep funding levels consistent but would not include the updated provisions.
“I have concerns, and we fought for more oversight,” he said. “The problem is, when you have reconciliation they put $200 billion on [Homeland Security]. If we do a CR, it’s a blank check.”
Republicans, too, struggled to keep their party aligned to squeeze out enough votes necessary to pass the bills without significant Democratic support.
Days before the final vote, a group of Midwestern lawmakers pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to include a provision in the appropriations package allowing year-round sales of E-15 ethanol. The gasoline blend is generally barred from being sold in the summer throughout much of the country, and expanding access would be a boost to corn growers and a challenge for members from oil-producing districts.
Members agreed to support the package in exchange for the formation of a working group of members and stakeholders charged with recommending legislation that “balances the interest of refiners and farmers” by Feb. 25, a spokesperson with Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Oklahoma) told The Washington Post.
Several House Freedom Caucus members also threatened to tank a procedural rule ahead of the final vote after raising concerns over billions of dollars of earmarks in the package, which direct funding to projects in members’ districts.
Kadia Goba contributed to this report.
The post House passes DHS funding bill despite Democratic opposition over ICE appeared first on Washington Post.
