Johnson faces tough decision on DHS funding bill

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is facing a tough decision on whether to bring a Senate-passed bipartisan bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to the floor on Thursday, as pressure from the White House and the upper chamber intensifies.

Walking onto the House floor Thursday, Johnson told CNN and other reporters he will have to talk to his members before making any announcements about the DHS bill, which would fund agencies including the Transportation Security Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Secret Service — but doesn’t contain money for immigration enforcement.

Johnson and House Republicans have sat on the bill for weeks, saying they will not pass it until they pass a separate package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through a special reconciliation process that bypasses the need for cooperation from Democrats who have demanded immigration enforcement reforms. 

But the Trump administration is running out of money it can tap through executive authority to pay DHS employees, most of whom are considered “essential” and are expected to work even during a shutdown, with officials saying it is set to dry up by the first week of May.

And the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is adding to the pressure to fully restore funding to the department.

The blueprint for the “skinny” reconciliation bill funding immigration enforcement was adopted in the House on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is among the Republicans who have urged the House to pass the bill funding the rest of the DHS now that the reconciliation bill has cleared that first hurdle.

Republican leaders are considering trying to bring the Senate DHS bill to the floor on Thursday before the House leaves for a weeklong recess, but it is unclear if such a move would be politically tenable — or if Republicans have the votes to fast-track the bill. 

Many hard-line conservatives have balked at moving on that bill before the “skinny” reconciliation measure had gone through final passage, which likely will take several more weeks. It would take a two-thirds vote of the House to fast-track the bill through a suspension of the rules process.

In a twist earlier this week, Johnson said he thought the Senate-passed bill was “haphazardly drafted” and added that he has a “modified” version of the measure. Any changes the House makes, however, would also have to be approved by the Senate, further delaying passage.

While hard-liners have apprehensions about the bill, other House Republicans are upping their calls to pass the Senate DHS package. 

Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) on Tuesday led a letter also signed by Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) calling on GOP leaders to pass the bill.

“Now that Senate Republicans are making progress on a clean reconciliation package to fund and strengthen our border security, we should match that progress here in the House by taking up and passing the Senate-passed funding bill and reopening DHS without any further delay,” the letter said. 

Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) wrote Thursday on the social platform X that Congress “must remain in session” to pass the Senate DHS bill. 

Johnson told CNN on Wednesday that he had concerns about some of the language in that bill but that he is “not defying the White House.”

“I just got off the phone with the president, OK?” Johnson said. “I met with Leader Thune two hours ago. He knows exactly what we’re doing. … We’re all working on the same team. We’ll get the job done.”

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