John Thune blasts Democrats’ DHS shutdown demands
Senate Majority Leader John Thune accuses Democrats of playing politics with the DHS shutdown, explaining how the Senate passed a bill to fund most agencies. He also addresses President Donald Trump’s remarks on rising gas prices.
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The House is primed to end the record-breaking Homeland Security shutdown, but Republicans are still fuming over a “s— sandwich” deal from the Senate.
The Senate again advanced its partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill on Thursday after being derailed by a House GOP rebellion. The frustration among House Republicans hasn’t gone anywhere, however, with lawmakers railing against House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., during a members-only call on Thursday afternoon.
The simmering anger comes after Johnson made a swift reversal, spurred by President Donald Trump, and backed Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s, R-S.D., on a two-track approach Wednesday that would pass the Senate’s partial DHS bill while funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a forthcoming party-line reconciliation package.
A senior GOP aide told Fox News Digital that House Republicans wanted to see action from their Senate counterparts on reconciliation and were frustrated with how the upper chamber handled the DHS deal, which the source said amounted to a “s— sandwich.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune endorsed a two-track approach to end the shutdown on Wednesday, but Johnson is facing criticism from his conference over his previous rejection of the plan. (Getty Images)
BEHIND THE SCENES OF CONGRESS’ ELEVENTH-HOUR RUSH TO FUND THE DHS
House Republicans are incensed at the Senate plan, which carves out funding for ICE and CBP. Still, the bill is expected to pass with bipartisan support.
“People are mad at Johnson,” one source familiar with the call told Fox News.
But for now, House Republicans are in no hurry to return to Washington, D.C., to end the 48-day shutdown. The House is next scheduled to return on April 14. A source familiar with the call told Fox News Digital that leadership is not expected to ask members to return to Washington early to vote on the measure.
A source told Fox News that there was “a lot of frustration” with the situation.
“Does feel like whiplash,” the source said.
“Not happy,” another person familiar with the call said. “Not willing to vote for anything that defunds law enforcement absent tangible action from Senate. Thune should call Senate back today.”
Some House Republicans argued the chamber must fund the president’s immigration and border security efforts through reconciliation before considering the Senate bill — despite the budget reconciliation process expected to take months.
This viewpoint was expressed by a broad group within the conference, not just the conservative flank, according to a source familiar with the call.
If Johnson proceeded first with the Senate bill, conservative opposition could determine how he brings the legislation to the floor. In the event he lacks conference-wide support for the upper chamber’s partial DHS bill, he could be forced to call up the Senate bill under suspension of House rules.
That strategy — requiring a two-thirds majority to pass — risks upsetting conservatives if the DHS bill relies on Democratic votes to clear the chamber.
Some House members voiced frustration with House Speaker Mike Johnson’s DHS shutdown strategy during a private call Thursday, sources told Fox News Digital. (Getty Images)
House lawmakers could have used the same fast-track process Thursday to pass the DHS bill that was done in the Senate, but opted not to.
Thune said Thursday that he didn’t know when the House would move on the bill, but noted that when they did, Republicans would begin a sprint to complete the budget reconciliation process.
“My assumption is, at some point, hopefully they’ll move it,” Thune said. “And you know, [with] the understanding that we’re going to come behind it with the Recon bill. I mean, I think this whole — where we are is just a regrettable place.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s, D-N.Y., demanded that the House GOP immediately take up the bill and accused them of now owning “the longest government shutdown in history.”
“The deep division and dysfunction among House Republicans is needlessly extending the DHS shutdown and hurting federal workers who are missing another paycheck,” Schumer said. “The Senate did its work twice to fund key parts of DHS without funding the lawlessness of ICE and Border Patrol.”
President Donald Trump moved to pay all DHS employees who were reporting to work without pay during the shutdown, despite Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowing that Republicans would get the blame for a prolonged funding lapse. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)
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But Trump has already teed up a counter, and plans to pay DHS employees through an executive order.
“Because the Democrats are fully and 100% committed to the Radical Left Policy of Open Borders and Zero Immigration Enforcement (which will hopefully cost them dearly in the Midterms!), allowing Murderers and Criminals of all types into our Country, totally unchecked and unvetted, I will soon sign an order to pay ALL of the incredible employees at the Department of Homeland Security,” Trump said on Truth Social.
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