DHS funding live updates as Senate-approved bill heads to House

The conservative House Freedom Caucus said it will not support the current DHS funding deal, complicating quick passage in the lower chamber. The group demanded that the House reattach funding for immigration enforcement, as well as add a voter ID provision, before sending it back to the Senate. 

Their opposition means GOP leaders face major hurdles in bringing up the legislation through the Rules Committee and advancing it to a vote on final passing via a party-line simple majority vote. 

GOP Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, the group's chairman, said they have made it clear to GOP leaders that they will not provide their votes to pass it under suspension of the rules, meaning it would need strong backing from Democrats to reach the two-thirds majority threshold.

"The only thing we're going to support is adding that funding into the bill, adding voter ID, sending it back to the Senate," Harris said, calling it a "bad" deal. 

"We stand united," he said. 

GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the Rules Committee, said it's "offensive" that the Senate would approve a bill that does not fund immigration enforcement. 

"Could the Senate be any more lazy than to send to us a bill that doesn't do the job and then leave town," Roy said. "We're going to stand up and say no to that." 

House Freedom Caucus members are currently huddling in Johnson's office. 

Today TSA workers are missing their second full paycheck since the shutdown began. Soon after the shutdown began, they received paychecks with half pay.

It'll take about five business days before they can receive any pay — whether that's through President Trump's order or congressional action to fund DHS.

Since the beginning of the shut down, nearly 500 TSA officers have quit, according to TSA.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, said Republicans are "working through the procedural issues" and noted that they could not bring up the Senate bill through suspension of the rules without changing the rules. House rules prevent moving bills under suspension of the rules on days other than Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays. 

GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, has been in and out of the House speaker's office Friday morning. 

House GOP leaders did not commit Friday morning to putting the Senate-passed legislation on the House floor. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that Republicans are meeting this morning to "decide next steps." 

He slammed Democrats over the measure, which excludes ICE and parts of CBP, calling it "infuriating" and accusing them of being "willing to inflict pain on the American people simply so they can defund the agency responsible for removing criminal illegal aliens," adding the approach is "detestable."

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Republicans are talking about "a couple of different options" and looking at the Senate bill to see if "that's something that we're going to process." 

A schedule released Thursday by House leadership says the lower chamber is set to return for legislative business at 9 a.m. Votes are expected to begin around 10 a.m. 

The schedule was released before the Senate approved DHS funding and did not list any DHS-related votes, but noted that "additional legislative items are possible."

House GOP leadership could decide to fast-track the bill by bypassing the House Rules Committee, but House rules prevent moving bills under suspension of the rules on days other than Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays. That strategy would also require a two-thirds majority vote for passage and Democratic support. 

But it's also unclear if the bill can clear the Rules Committee and a party-line procedural vote on the floor, which would pave the way for passage by a simple majority. 

Ahead of its two-week recess, the Senate agreed to an off-ramp to end the 42-day partial shutdown that has centered on federal immigration enforcement. 

The deal that was approved in a voice vote after 2 a.m. funds all of DHS except ICE and parts of CBP.  The legislation did not include most of the reforms to federal immigration enforcement that Democrats demanded after federal officers fatally shot two Americans in Minnesota during Mr. Trump's immigration crackdown. 

There appeared to be some movement in negotiations this week, but talks ultimately fell apart as Democrats said the GOP's offer to fund all of DHS did not go far enough in meeting their demands. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said his party "held the line." 

"Throughout it all, Senate Democrats stood united — no wavering, no backing down," he said on the Senate floor after passage. "Senate Democrats were clear: no blank check for a lawless ICE and Border Patrol." 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Thursday afternoon that Republicans sent Democrats their "last and final" offer. 

Shortly after, the Senate began a procedural vote on DHS funding, which was held open for more than six hours in hopes that there would be a breakthrough in negotiations. The vote ultimately failed. 

But Mr. Trump said he would sign an emergency order to pay TSA agents as travelers face long waits in airport security lines, which Thune said alleviated "the immediate pressure" to reach a deal. 

Mr. Trump's announcement appeared to pave the way for ending the impasse, which threatened to cut short the Senate's recess. 

After Friday's vote, Thune ruled out the possibility of immigration enforcement reforms, telling reporters that Democrats "kissed that opportunity goodbye" by failing to provide funding for those agencies. 

"I think that ship has sailed," he said. 

Republicans have vowed to fund immigration enforcement agencies through the reconciliation process, though the strategy is expected to face more hurdles with the GOP's narrow majority and a lack of Democratic support.