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House Adopts Rule to Consider DHS Funding as Heated Floor Fight Centers on TSA Pay, ICE and Local Control
Summary
The House adopted a closed rule to consider four measures including DHS appropriations, triggering extended partisan debate over a month-long DHS shutdown, unpaid TSA workers and whether ICE and CBP should be funded separately; House leaders pressed forward despite Democratic opposition.
The U.S. House on March 25 adopted a closed rule (H.Res.1131) to take up four measures including H.R.8029, the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, setting the stage for a broad, partisan floor fight over agency funding and priorities.
The rule, presented by the gentlewoman from Indiana, authorized one hour of debate and waived points of order against provisions in each bill. The House agreed to the previous question and adopted the rule after electronic votes.
Democrats used their time to say the shutdown of DHS has left roughly 100,000 personnel — including Transportation Security Administration officers — working without pay, causing long airport lines and staffing shortfalls. “If they wanted to solve this, they could solve this,” said the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. McGovern, urging support for a targeted bill to pay TSA and other law-abiding DHS employees while withholding funds for immigration enforcement components he called “lawless.”
Republicans defended the rule as necessary to move several priority measures and repeatedly argued that fully funding DHS — including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — is required to protect public safety. The gentlewoman from Indiana noted that bills on the floor also include reforms, such as body-camera mandates and training for enforcement personnel, that were negotiated under the rule.
Much of the public dispute focused on whether TSA pay should be separated from ICE funding. Democratic leaders proposed a narrower appropriations vehicle to fund only law-abiding DHS components; Republicans countered that piecemeal funding would undercut department-wide missions and cooperation among agencies.
The rule’s adoption cleared the path for consideration of each underlying bill, even as members signaled the dispute over ICE and CBP funding — and responsibility for the shutdown — is likely to continue in committee and on the floor.
The House also received presidential notices extending multiple national-emergency declarations during the day, which were entered into the record.
