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On Monday night, the House Rules Committee took a significant step forward in resolving the partial government shutdown by advancing a critical piece of legislation. This move sets the stage for what promises to be a closely contested vote on the House floor, posing a challenge for House Republican leaders.
The committee approved the funding package with an 8-4 vote, strictly divided along party lines. This legislation, which the Senate had passed the previous week, includes a “minibus” of five full-year appropriations bills. Additionally, it contains a measure that extends funding for the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks. This extension aims to allow time for negotiations on the Democrats’ demands for reforms in immigration enforcement.
The House had initially passed all six funding bills back in January. However, changes negotiated by the White House with Senate Democrats, following the uproar over the fatal incident involving immigration enforcement agents and Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Pretti, necessitated further approval from the House. This situation led to a partial government shutdown commencing on Saturday.
Despite the expectation of bipartisan support for the package’s final passage, Republicans face a crucial challenge in clearing the package during a procedural rule vote on Tuesday. These votes typically follow party lines and serve as a test of the majority’s control over the House floor.
Given the Republicans’ narrow majority, which was further reduced by the swearing-in of Democratic Representative Christian Menefee from Texas on Monday evening, the GOP cannot afford to lose more than one vote on any party-line decision, provided all members are present and voting.
The House is moving the bill through the rule because House Democrats declined to provide the substantial support needed to fast-track the bill with a two-thirds vote under suspension of the rules, which could have resulted in passage of the bill on Monday.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) expressed optimism that the House will approve the funding bill on Tuesday, despite some demands from the conservative wing from his party.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) had been spearheading a push to add the SAVE America Act — legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and ID to cast a ballot — to the funding package and send it back to the Senate.
But in a good sign for the funding package’s prospects of success on Tuesday, Luna told reporters that after meeting with President Trump at the White House Monday and getting encouragement about ways to move the SAVE Act in the Senate, she would vote for the rule on the funding package.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member who is often a key GOP holdout on various party-line measures, articulated the frustration that some Republicans have about the Senate agreeing to split off the DHS funding bill, casting doubt about the prospects of fruitful negotiation on immigration enforcement.
“Homland Security is more than just ICE. They want to dismantle ICE. It’s not going to happen. There is a strong contingency and growing — the minute they start all these outlandish demands — it’s not going to happen,” Norman said during a hearing on the bill on Monday.
“I will reluctantly vote the rule and give them a stupid ten days, and let’s see how that plays out. It’s going to get shut down. Let ‘em bear the consequences.”
A few House GOP members told The Hill on Monday night that they had not yet decided how they would vote on extending funding.