More than 20 House Democrats voted with Republicans on Tuesday to reopen the government and keep the Department of Homeland Security funded for two weeks.
Why it matters: The vote created harsh divisions among Democrats, some of whom argued that the party should use the partial shutdown as leverage to force drastic reforms of ICE and Customs and Border Protection.
- Many Democrats also felt considerable apprehension about the optics of voting for even short-term DHS funding without strings attached following the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti.
- But several members of leadership argued that it would be bad strategy to allow the government to stay shut down, with other lawmakers saying their districts need agencies like FEMA to be funded.
Driving the news: The House voted 217 to 214 to pass the legislation, which funds the Departments of Defense, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, State and Labor until September.
- Most Republicans voted for the package, with 21 mostly right-wing GOP lawmakers defecting in protest of stripping out the full-year DHS appropriations bill, which previously passed the House.
- 21 Democrats voted for the package, and most voted against.
What's next: The short-term extension of DHS funding is intended to give lawmakers time to negotiate reforms to ICE and CBP, but the two sides are far apart.
- House Freedom Caucus members want a seat at the negotiating table for those talks, and come with a list of conservative priorities they want included.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also threw cold water on adding new warrant requirements for federal immigration agents, a key Democratic demand.
