Johnson faces pressure from all sides as funding to pay DHS workers dwindles

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is facing pressure from all sides as he insists on passing a GOP-only bill to fund immigration enforcement before taking up bipartisan legislation to fund the rest of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), even as the department is set to run out of money to pay employees in a few weeks.

Johnson already faces an uphill battle in getting a reconciliation bill across the finish line, as hard-line conservatives push to include other priorities in the legislation and rail against the Senate-driven strategy of separating Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol funding. The Senate voted to advance a budget blueprint for the bill on Tuesday, kicking off a marathon debate and a final vote to be held later this week.

But DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned Tuesday on “Fox & Friends” that the money to pay employees will run dry, with no further emergency reserves to fall back on, by the first week of May, a date by which it is highly unlikely Congress could pass the reconciliation bill.

Reconciliation allows Republicans to bypass the Democratic filibuster in the Senate, but it is a multistep and lengthy process.

Asked Tuesday if there was any chance of passing the bipartisan bill to fund most of the DHS, which has already passed the Senate, before the GOP-only reconciliation bill to avoid another lapse in pay, Johnson argued the “sequencing is important.”

“We’ve got to make sure that we don’t isolate and, as I say, make an orphan out of key agencies of the department,” Johnson said. “And there’s some concern on our side that if you do the bulk of the department first before that, and they could be left out, we can’t allow for that. So, we’re working through that. The sequencing is important and the language of the legislation is important as always, and we’ll get there.”

That timeline, though, isn’t sitting well with some members.

Asked whether the House should vote on the Senate bill first rather than waiting for the reconciliation bill, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said, “Yes. Coast Guard hasn’t been paid for two months.”

Bacon added that, “Bad governance leads to no funding for FEMA, Secret Service, Coast Guard, ICE and [Customs and Border Protection] … these are national missions and it’s wrong that partisanship has left them unfunded.”

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) agreed, saying he’d vote for a Senate bill first. 

“Some of our colleagues want the reconciliation bill, which is really an [appropriations] bill masquerading as a reconciliation bill, they want that first, so hopefully we can get that quick,” Fitzpatrick said. 

Told that House GOP leaders still preferred to wait for reconciliation before voting on the larger DHS package, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said: “That’s pushing it back. I don’t think that DHS has the money to fund all those agencies for that long.” 

The DHS has been shut down for more than two months, but Trump has used executive authority to order that its employees be paid — authority that is set to dry up.

“My understanding is, at least that the White House is pushing on to get the package done, the other appropriations package, particularly if we can execute on getting the budget resolution out this week,” Thune added. “I think it hopefully will free up the folks over there who have concerns.” 

But while Thune is pushing for a “skinny” reconciliation package, hard-line conservatives, skeptical they will get another shot at reconciliation in the future, are opting for a more expansive bill that folds in additional priorities like defense spending and health care reform. 

“I think we are likely only to be able to have one other bite at the apple. I’m not saying a third is impossible. I’m just saying, look, we’re trying to get appropriations done. You’re going to get to July, then it’s August, then it’s fall, and come on,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), policy chair of the House Freedom Caucus, told The Hill last week. “So my view is, if we need to get DHS funded, let’s get on that horse. Let’s add some other things to it. Let’s move it forward. So you want to deal with defense, deal with it there. Figure out how to pay for things.”

Roy and other members of the House Freedom Caucus have also pushed to fund all of the DHS through reconciliation.

Johnson, who’s navigating a razor-thin margin, can afford to lose only two GOP votes on any party-line bill, assuming all members are present. And any Senate-passed bill that the House amends must be cleared again by the Senate, raising the risk of dragging out the already record-breaking government shutdown.

But some House Republicans said they aren’t ready to simply accept whatever the upper chamber sends their way. 

“I think there’s just a lot of assumptions being made over in the Senate about what some of us are willing to do, and I think that’s a mistake,” Roy said Wednesday.

House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), who will play a central role in shaping the reconciliation bill, said the question for the Republican conference will be whether there will be enough support for a “quick and skinny” package, or whether members would want to load it up with more reforms.“If they feel like there’s only one chance, they’re going to want more. And I can’t answer that question. I’m supportive of whatever the most effective strategy is, and wherever we can get the consensus in our conference,” he said.

“I think Chairman Graham’s doing the right thing, for starting it off with skinny, and then we can have that debate over here on continuing down that path, or course correcting a little bit,” Arrington added, referring to Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Emily Brooks contributed. 

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