These 4 Democrats voted with Republicans to fund DHS

Four Democrats crossed the aisle Thursday and voted in favor of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill aimed at ending the partial government shutdown, despite opposition from their own leadership.  

The four Democrats who joined Republicans in voting for the measure were Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Jared Golden (Maine) and Don Davis (N.C.). They had all voted for a largely identical DHS bill that passed the lower chamber in January.

That January vote took place before the death of 37-year-old Minneapolis nurse and U.S. citizen Alex Pretti at the hands of immigration agents sparked outrage among Democrats, leading to questions about whether the seven Democrats who voted yes in January would do so again.

Republicans had also been pressuring Democrats to support the DHS bill in the wake of the ongoing U.S. military operation against Iran, citing heightened threats to the homeland. 

But despite the pressure, three Democrats who voted “yes” in January opposed the funding Thursday: Reps. Laura Gillen (N.Y.), Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) and Vicente Gonzalez (Texas).

Two-hundred and nine Democrats voted against the bill, which passed Thursday 221-209.

Golden’s vote was widely expected. The Maine centrist has carved out a reputation as an independent-minded pragmatist — one who’s been willing to vote against the grain of his party when it suits his district. And on previous spending votes, he’s said he’ll never support shutting down the government.

“With ICE already funded independently through the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ this shutdown hasn’t affected their operations — it’s only blocked paychecks for Coast Guardsmen and TSA workers while harming FEMA’s ability to respond to emergencies. It never made sense to shut down everything at DHS except ICE when the debate is about ICE,” Golden said in a statement. 

Cuellar, ranking member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, has previously pushed for the passage of the DHS bill. He said in a floor speech back in January that the bill they had voted on then is better than the alternative of a shutdown or funding the department through a temporary stopgap measure.

“It’s better than the alternative: leaving the department with a blank check, virtually unchecked by the Appropriations Committee and by Congress. Allowing DHS to operate under a continuing resolution or trying to shut it down, ICE would ensure that they have no direction from Congress,” he said at the time.

These Democrats have also noted that the shutdown has made life harder for their constituents.

When Davis voted for a DHS bill in January, he wrote in a statement that “in eastern North Carolina, we face the realities of hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters firsthand and rely on the U.S. Coast Guard to protect our coastline and families.”

Gluesenkamp Perez also said in a statement back in January that “in a DHS shutdown, ICE would continue operating with limited oversight thanks to funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill, which I voted against. Meanwhile, agencies like the Coast Guard or FEMA–and communities like mine–would take the hit.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other top Democratic leaders had whipped against the bill. The vote on the measure took place just hours after President Trump announced he was replacing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.).

“A change in personnel is not sufficient. House Democrats will continue to demand bold, meaningful and transformational changes until ICE, CBP and all DHS agencies and officers conduct themselves in a manner consistent with every law enforcement agency in the country,” Jeffries said in a statement on Thursday.

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