Congress on two-week recess amid DHS shutdown

Congress is now on a two-week recess after failing to pass a deal to end the partial government shutdown. Yesterday, Democratic Representative Jim Himes told our Margaret Brennan on Face the Nationhe thinks funding lapses are becoming all too common. We have gotten too used to using shutdowns as a mechanism of getting what we want legislatively. And what that implies is that people like TSA agents, or folks that work in the federal government for the Department of Agriculture, don't get paid when one party throws a tantrum, right? Now, in this case, I happen to believe that the American people, you know, are with the Democratic Party and saying don't get to act like ICE acted in Minneapolis. But we do need to get away from legislating through shutdown. That is not consonant with the great country that we are.

All right. Let's bring in CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion. Nikole, we thought this was going to be settled last week we hoped. What happened? Well, we did. I wish I could tell you, Adriana. I think we're still all kind of scratching our heads here trying to figure this one out. But at the end of the day, it just comes down to the House and Senate couldn't agree. They have to in order to pass legislation and get it to the president's desk, fundamentally speaking. But in this case, that didn't happen here. So what occurred is we saw the Senate overnight very early on Friday pass a bill to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security? However, it did not include money for immigration enforcement and removal operations, specifically under the agencies of ICE and Customs and Border Protection. And so when that measure got over to the House, Speaker Mike Johnson said, we're not doing this. The fact that, you know, funding for those agencies is zeroed out, can't do it, not happening. I'm going to put up a different bill, which he did, to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security but just on a temporary basis for the next eight weeks. And so that is what passed the House. And so what we are watching today is to see whether or not the Senate will consider that. Because they are on recess, they have these sessions that are called pro forma sessions, where they typically are very perfunctory. Nothing much happens, are about two to three minutes. But it's possible that Republicans could try to bring up this House Bill. But anyone Senator can object, namely a Democrat. So we'll be watching this session this morning to see if, in fact, that happens. Obviously, if it does, it means this process still goes nowhere. But again, it's just a matter of both chambers not agreeing. And until they do, the Department of Homeland Security remains closed.

And Nikole, you do such a good job in helping our viewers understand why it's happening, and how each side tries to come to a resolution. But if you step back and look at the bigger picture, once again, the government is shut down. Once again, taxpayer money isn't leading to an efficient government. And I believe-- fact-check me on this-- Of, all the government shutdowns we've had in history, two of the longest have happened in the past 12 months. So is this becoming more of a pervasive issue that Congress cannot get the people's work done? Well, yeah. I mean, to Congressman Himes' point, I mean, look, this is the third shutdown we've seen in about a six-month period. And so for those federal workers who aren't getting paid in the process, that is significant. Now, we do know for their part, Senate leadership did speak over the weekend-- Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Thune trying to move the ball forward and seek agreement with Leader Schumer on a path forward for DHS funding. But what Leader Schumer conveyed to Leader Thune-- and I believe we have that quote. This is from Schumer spokesperson-- is that Senate Democrats will not accept anything less than that compromise measure that the Senate passed last week, simply because it was bipartisan, and it was unanimously agreed to. And that's why Senate Democrats really floored why Speaker Mike Johnson would switch things up because that bill had agreement. They believed their votes were there in the House. So again, unfortunately, this is a predicament that we find ourselves in more often than not these days. And again, we will kind of keep you tuned as to what the fix could be going forward. But unfortunately, it looks like this shutdown will be protracted for some time now until both chambers can get agreement. And, Nikole, now that they're on recess, presumably, they went to-- most of them went to airports and had to stay-- stand on TSA security lines, right? Yeah. Well, look, there are some other outlets out there that are trying to track lawmakers down as they head to the airports and head on vacation. But look, you know, I know it's easy to blame Congress in all of this. But at the end of the day, you know, the thinking among leadership is if we don't have agreement among our members, kind of what is the point of being here if there's nothing to vote on that we all agree to? So the hope is that maybe these conversations can continue behind the scenes to try to reach some sort of agreement. Again, that was kind of the impetus between these discussions over the weekend between Leader Thune and Leader Schumer, since the ball is kind of back in their court. But again, we'll have to see if it results in anything promising at this point.

Nikole Killion, thank you so much. Nikole got her steps in last week chasing all those lawmakers.

Indeed.

Thanks, Nikole.

Thanks, Nikole.