Mike Johnson caves to hardliners in move that could blow up DHS funding: report

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is planning to modify the Senate-passed Department of Homeland Security funding bill before it can be brought to a vote — caving to hardliners in the GOP caucus, and creating another obstacle to getting the agency properly funded and open again.

According to Politico congressional reporter Meredith Lee Hill, "Conservatives are pushing him to strip out the language that explicitly zeroes out ICE and CBP funding that will force the Senate to reapprove it — which risks more delays amid the record-long shutdown at DHS."

This comes after Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) separately implored Johnson to pass the bill as is and rely on the separately tracked budget reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement.

"Langworthy, a New Yorker who sits on the House Rules Committee and is strongly aligned with Johnson, told the speaker Monday he is urging 'immediate consideration' of the Senate-approved bill funding most of DHS, according to a letter obtained by POLITICO," reported Hill. "Facing a Republican rebellion in their ranks, Johnson and fellow GOP leaders have been pushing to move the Senate-passed bill, which senators approved unanimously on April 2, only after the House is able to make progress on a separate, party-line measure to fund immigration enforcement agencies."

However, she added, "that situation is growing increasingly untenable after Saturday’s shooting and recent warnings from Trump officials that DHS is running out of emergency funding as a record shutdown extends past 10 weeks."

The two-track strategy to pass ICE and CBP funding in reconciliation was conceived by Republicans as an end-run to reopen most of the agency as soon as possible, while avoiding negotiations with Democrats on longer-term reforms to immigration enforcement. This has been controversial from the start, however, as many Republicans want the reconciliation bill to contain more things.