Freedom Caucus calls for full DHS funding in GOP-only bill, rejecting Trump-endorsed plan

The House Freedom Caucus on Tuesday called to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a GOP-only budget reconciliation bill, rejecting a President Trump-endorsed two-step plan from Republican leaders.

That plan would fund the bulk of the DHS, including the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, through a bipartisan Senate bill and use budget reconciliation to bypass a Democratic filibuster and fund immigration enforcement.

“We cannot leave ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and CBP [Customs and Border Protection] hanging with nothing but hopes and prayers that reconciliation 2.0 comes together. That’s why we must use reconciliation to fully fund ALL of the Department of Homeland Security!” the Freedom Caucus posted Tuesday on social platform X.

The statement reflects the tricky task Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has in rallying House Republicans around a funding plan he had initially rejected as a “joke,” and it indicates that intraparty fighting could delay the path to reopening much of DHS.

Johnson last week joined with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and President Trump to publicly back the two-step plan that separates funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol due to Democrats refusing to vote for such funding without reforms to immigration enforcement practices.

But House Republicans, including those beyond the Freedom Caucus, fumed at the plan on a private conference call last week, demanding to pass a reconciliation bill to address immigration and border security before agreeing to pass funding for the rest of DHS.

Trump said he wanted to see the immigration enforcement funding passed by June 1. Thune last week said he would want to keep that bill as narrow as possible in order to meet that deadline.

The Freedom Caucus statement, though, argued it could “tightly control this process” even if it pursues full DHS funding in reconciliation.

“We can tightly control this process with strict instructions to the various committees involved, so no one can sneak in unrelated garbage and distract us from our mission,” the Freedom Caucus statement said.

“We must provide robust funding for ICE and CBP, and it should be done with all of DHS in reconciliation 2.0. We can fund DHS for the rest of the President’s term to ensure Democrats can never again take our nation’s security hostage.”

House Republicans have argued that agreeing to separate out border funding due to demands from the minority party sets a bad precedent for future negotiations on appropriations, and balked at voting for a bill that does not include immigration enforcement and border funding.

“We will never hand Democrats their ultimate prize: A defunded ICE, handcuffed CBP, and criminal aliens terrorizing our communities,” the Freedom Caucus said.

Trump last week issued an order to pay all DHS employees despite the record-setting shutdown, citing national security, relieving pressure to quickly pass funding for the agency.

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