House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told his caucus during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday that he opposes a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, five sources familiar with his comments told Axios.
Why it matters: Jeffries' opposition comes as Democrats both inside and outside of Congress are lining up against the bill, which they say isn't nearly sufficient to constrain ICE following the shooting of Renee Good.
- At least five House Democrats spoke up against the bill in the Wednesday morning meeting, with none speaking for it, sources told Axios.
- Swing-district Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), coming out of the gathering, told reporters he is a "hell no."
- The progressive group MoveOn "sent over 40,000 letters in just three days opposing any funding for ICE and Border Patrol until their lawless and dangerous behavior is reined in," spokesperson Britt Jacovich told Axios.
Driving the news: Jeffries told his members that Democratic leadership made five requests for ICE accountability measures and other related language that Republicans rejected, several sources told Axios.
- As such, he said, he is opposed to the bill even as he supports the other appropriations bills the House is set to vote on separately this week.
- Jeffries' speech came after Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) and Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas) all spoke against the bill in the meeting, according to sources.
Yes, but: Several battleground-district and centrist Democrats exited the caucus meeting saying they remained undecided on the bill.
- That includes Reps. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), the battleground representative to leadership, and Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), the chair of the center-left New Democrat Coalition.
- "I'm going to continue to speak with my colleagues and speak to my team around it," Rep. John Mannion (D-N.Y.), a swing district member, told Axios.
Between the lines: Lawmakers are under considerable pressure from their grassroots to oppose the bill.
- MoveOn urged its members on Tuesday and Wednesday to call their representatives and senators, urging them to oppose the bill, Jacovich said.
- MoveOn and Indivisible are also organizing a "pause on economic daily activities" in Minnesota — such as school, work and shopping — calling for Congress not to fund ICE.
- Said Mannion: "The American people are demanding, certainly in my district, that there has to be something that resembles law enforcement in this country ... and this is not it."
State of play: The DHS funding bill is set to be voted on this week, separately from a government spending package that funds the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Transportation.
- The DHS bill is likely to pass the House along party lines, though Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), an arch-centrist who negotiated the DHS bill as ranking member of the relevant appropriations subcommittee, told Axios he is a "yes" on it.
- The other government package, often referred to as a "minibus," is expected to pass the House with bipartisan support.
The bottom line: "If Democrats in Congress truly want to stop ICE in Minnesota and across the country," Jacovich said, "here's their chance to do it."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
