The near-record shutdown affecting FEMA and the rest of the Department of Homeland Security is poised to continue indefinitely after House Republicans rejected a Senate-passed funding bill Friday and charted a different path forward.
House GOP leaders are plowing ahead with a 60-day extension of DHS’ previous funding levels, balking at the full-year funding bill the Senate passed just hours earlier under unanimous consent.
In theory, either bill would top up the country’s dwindling disaster accounts and alleviate some of the airport delays caused by the funding lapse at TSA. But it appears neither measure will make it to President Donald Trump’s desk anytime soon.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is rallying his conference against the Senate plan, which — at the demand of Democrats — would fund DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of the U.S. Border Patrol. House conservatives say any funding bill must fund the immigration agencies to earn their support.
