House Democrats do not plan to pass a two-week CR to continue funding DHS while reforms are negotiated.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries laid out the Democratic position on ABC this week:
What is clear is that the Department of Homeland Security needs drastic reform. We share that view, as do Leader Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate, in several ways. Body cameras should be mandatory. Masks must be taken off. In our view, court orders should be absolutely required, consistent with the Constitution, before DHS agents or ICE agents break into the homes of the American people or snatch people from their cars.
We must ensure that there are full and independent investigations so that when ICE or DHS agents break the law, they are not held accountable by the Department of Justice, which we believe has no interest in actually conducting a fair investigation, but by state and local authorities.
And we must reiterate that the detention and deportation of American citizens must be off the table, and the use of taxpayer dollars to abuse ordinary Americans or commit violent attacks on law-abiding immigrant families must be off the table.
Jeffries already told Johnson that Democrats would help him suspend the rules to pass the CR by unanimous consent.
John Bresnahan of Punchbowl News reported on the House Democrats’ Sunday conference call on X:
On the House Democratic Caucus call, Jeffries said he told Johnson on Saturday that he would not commit to a vote before speaking to his colleagues about government funding. Jeffries had to see how they could come to an agreement on DHS funding. House Dems are an absolute no
Max Cohen of Punchbowl News reported that the Democratic response to ICE funding as:
Overwhelming response from House Dems during caucus call on: DHS bill: “Hell no”
Laura Weiss of Punchbowl News added more from the call on X:
News: HOYER and CLYBURN both told House Dems on their private caucus call to vote YES to pass government funding package this week
It’s hard to see Hoyer and Clyburn actually voting yes when the rest of the caucus is no.
What this means is that Mike Johnson will have to rally a majority of Republicans to pass a rule and then conduct the final vote.
The House does not vote separately on funding bills.
Johnson holds one vote on agreement with the Senate on all five bills.
DHS is already closed, and Democrats won’t vote to reopen it without real ICE reform.
Get ready for a very interesting week in the House.
What do you think about Democrats saying no to ICE funding? Join the discussion in the comments below.
