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House Republican leaders say they will reopen government, prioritize immigration enforcement and tout tax filing changes
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Summary
At a Republican press gaggle, party leaders said they will pass most appropriations at GOP spending levels, keep homeland security funding separate for negotiations on immigration, defended ICE operations, and repeated claims that tax changes simplify filing and save families time and money.
A group of House Republican leaders told reporters they would move today to reopen the federal government by passing individual appropriations bills and to press the White House and Senate for a separate negotiation on homeland security funding and border enforcement.
Speakers at the gaggle framed the effort as delivering "responsible governance." One speaker praised what he called a stronger presidential approach to border enforcement and said the conference had "proactively funded immigration and customs enforcement operations for the next 4 years" in a broad funding measure. He added the House would pass funding "at Trump spending levels" and leave a small remaining portion to be negotiated with the president.
The leaders repeatedly criticized House Democrats. One speaker said "every single Democrat voted to raise your taxes," and urged reporters to highlight that claim. Republican speakers also touted tax-code changes they said will reduce paperwork for families, asserting the doubled standard deduction makes the first $31,500 of family income effectively tax-free and that reforms will save "about 210000000 hours" of paperwork and $13,000,000,000 in compliance costs.
On homeland-security funding, leaders said the House and the White House agreed to separate that bill for negotiations, giving both sides two weeks to try to reach an agreement. They warned that if Democrats vote against the package, services tied to Department of Homeland Security functions — including pay for troops, TSA operations and FEMA disaster responses — could be disrupted.
Leaders also previewed non-funding priorities they expect to bring to the floor, including a bill described as opening access to domestic critical minerals to reduce reliance on other countries and oversight actions related to subpoenas issued to private citizens and former officials.
In a later question-and-answer exchange, reporters pressed the leaders about immigration enforcement tactics and whether agencies such as ICE and CBP should change practices after incidents involving force. A speaker said he had "great faith and trust in the leadership of Homeland Security and Tom Homan," calling Homan "measured," and said enforcement must comply with the law. On a claim by some Democrats that a judicial-warrant requirement should be added on top of existing immigration-judge warrants, the speaker said adding that extra layer would be "unworkable" and could not be implemented at scale.
The gaggle included multiple exchanges about whether House Republicans had the votes to pass their approach; speakers said they expected to hold unity on the Republican side and welcomed Democrats who wished to join them but did not expect help from Democratic leadership. The leaders also reiterated they would advance a measure to disapprove a D.C. Council decision that they said would prevent local residents from receiving benefits from the federal tax changes.
No formal roll-call votes or motions were recorded during the gaggle; speakers described plans and negotiations that they said would proceed on the House floor and in talks with the Senate and the White House. The leaders said further details would be worked out in the coming days as negotiations continue.
