Congressional Republicans struggled Tuesday to move forward with a compromise spending bill that would end the partial government shutdown and might rein in the ICE anti-immigrant operation that has roiled the nation.
House GOP leaders and President Trump were pressuring right-wing lawmakers to back the retooled spending package that would open the door to negotiations with Democrats over reforms to scale back the controversial mass deportation campaign.
A procedural vote was expected later Tuesday with final passage potentially set for later in the week on the bill that would fund most of the government for months but only extend funding for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE for two weeks.
With only a four-vote majority, House Speaker Johnson will need near-unanimous support from fellow Republican lawmakers, and some conservatives are already threatening to tank the bill for various reasons despite Trump’s support.
The measure would end the partial government shutdown that began Saturday, funding most of the federal government through Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks as lawmakers negotiate potential ICE reforms.
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer cut the deal last week with Trump and it passed the Senate with significant bipartisan support.
But House Democrats aren’t thrilled with the deal and many don’t want to vote for even a short-term funding for ICE after immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens on the streets of Minneapolis last month.
A handful of moderate and conservative Democrats might break ranks to back the bill and offset any right-wing GOP defections, adding to the uncertainty surrounding the deal, which both sides warn could still collapse.
If the measure does pass the House, Trump is expected to quickly sign the bill and end the short-lived shutdown that started on Saturday.
Congressional Democrats would then launch talks with the White House on a laundry list of demands around ICE, including requiring agents to stop wearing masks and identify themselves, wear body cameras and agree to independent probes of alleged wrongdoing.
Critics in both parties are pushing for independent investigations of the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis
If GOP leaders are unable to push the compromise through the lower chamber, the shutdown could stretch on for a much longer time.
Neither party wants a longer shutdown like last fall’s 43-day standoff that upended air travel and suspended SNAP food aid for low-income people.
Congress has made bipartisan progress to fund the government since then, passing six of the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund federal agencies and programs. That includes important programs such as nutrition assistance and fully operating national parks and historic sites, all of which are funded through Sept. 30.
But the remaining bills bankroll roughly three-quarters of federal spending, including the Department of Defense. Service members and federal workers could miss paychecks depending on how long the funding lapse stretches on.
