The House passed legislation Thursday that would fund the Department of Homeland Security and end the weekslong partial government shutdown, as GOP lawmakers argue the continued closure puts the country at risk amid the war with Iran.
The measure passed in a 221-209 vote, with four Democrats voting with Republicans to approve it. The Democrats voting in favor were Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington.
But the Senate shot down a similar measure earlier Thursday in a 51-45 procedural vote that fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance it. Only one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted with Republicans.
DHS has been shut down since Feb. 14 when its stopgap funding expired, but agencies like FEMA and the TSA that fall under the department’s umbrella are deemed essential and employees have been working without pay. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under DHS has furloughed some of its employees.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, attends an …
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House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican, said on the House floor Thursday that the funding is “critical…at such an important time for our country.”
“Shutting down the Department of Homeland Security over [a] partisan fight hasn’t changed the stakes, but maybe knowing how critical it is to keep the homeland safe at this heightened moment, Democrats will side with reason and protecting the nation,” Mr. Cole said.
“Shutdowns are never the answer. I know my colleagues think that by shutting down the government, they are somehow punishing Donald Trump for winning the election, but President Trump is not the one feeling the pain of the shutdown,” he said. “They are punishing the TSA agents who are working hard to keep their community safe, they’re punishing FEMA employees who are trying to help Americans fighting through these winter storms, they are punishing the cybersecurity analysts at CISA who are combating constant threats to our infrastructure and electric grid.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democratic appropriator, called the push for the bill to pass “political theater” and “a cynical attempt to extract more funding for lawless agencies because of a crisis that the president has created without an imminent threat.”
“If Republicans were serious this week we could have funded every agency under the Department of Homeland Security except for ICE and for CBP and I will not vote for another dime for these agencies until we get the reforms that the American people want and stopping these agencies for terrorizing these communities,” she said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, told reporters Wednesday that “everybody in America better watch” to see who votes against the funding.
“Anybody who votes to block funding for the homeland, it is shameful,” Mr. Johnson said. “I don’t know how to describe it. It speaks to a long record of Democrats’ deliberate efforts to undermine America’s safety and the essential operations of DHS.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, told reporters Thursday that “DHS has been shut down by Republicans because of their refusal to actually agree to a set of bold, meaningful, but common sense demands that are designed to get ICE under control.”
Mr. Trump on Thursday removed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem from the post and tapped GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to replace her.
