House GOP rejects Senate bill to fund DHS

Speaker Johnson-- Speaker Johnson--

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You and John Thune are not on the same page. You came out and criticized Democrats. He was the engineer behind this. Why are you guys not on the same page? And are you not extending the shutdown? If you were to accept what the Senate had passed, this could end tonight, and the TSA lines would shrink. I wouldn't call John Thune the engineer of this. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate-- Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate have forced this upon the Senate. I have to protect the House. Let me answer the question, Chad. I have to protect the House. And I have to protect the American people. That's our responsibility. Our colleagues on this side understand, this is not a game. We are not playing their games. These people want open borders. And they want criminal, illegal aliens in the country. They do not want to enforce the law. They want to literally defund-- you just read it in the bill here. They want to give $0 to enforcing federal immigration laws and keeping the border secure. That was the biggest issue in the election of 2024, the wide open border that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris foisted upon the country. And 20 million, by some estimates, 20 million dangerous criminal illegal aliens included in that number came over the border. We have terrorists in our country. We have, obviously, murderers. They're putting it on display. And then these big blue cities that have sanctuary city policies, they're releasing these people onto the streets. They released them over the border when they came over under the Biden years. And that is the turmoil that we're facing right now, the very serious threats to the homeland and everybody. It's not just long lines at the airport. It is the danger and safety of everyone.

Speaker Johnson-- We'll talk more after this has passed. We'll get it done.

Has the president endorsed this plan? Has the president endorsed this plan, Mr. Speaker? Has the president endorsed the plan? I spoke the president a few moments ago. He understands exactly what we're doing and why. And he supports it. Yes.

Mr. Speaker--

Thank you.

--the American people are just sick and tired of every one of you, both Republicans and Democrats, come to this podium and blame the other side. People have been standing in lines three, four, or five hours at a time. There's TSA workers that are selling their plasma. At what point is a leader on either side going to stand up and say, we have a path forward that everyone will agree to? This vote today, will it extend the shutdown under any circumstance? No, it won't. No, it won't.

If it-- Thank you. Let me answer the question. I'm glad you brought it up. The House Republicans have now voted that today will be the fourth time to fund the Homeland Security. This is not a party blame game. This is a record. You can hold up the record. Look at the Democrats. They're voting over and over. Last night-- yesterday afternoon, we gave them a chance to fund Homeland Security. You know how many House Democrats voted yes? Four of them. They want to use people as pawns. People are not pawns. These are workers who are sacrificially serving the country, many of them without pay, to make sure that you and your families are safe. And we're done with it. This is not a political blame game. This is one party doing the job and getting the government funded and another that's using people as pawns. We're not going to do that. Listen, we're going to send it over there, and you can see what they do. If this is not UCed, and they don't do it, the president has shown leadership. He's going to fund TSA agents. We'll get that covered. But we have the rest of the country to take care of. We're not asking them to do anything heroic. These aren't partisan games. We're not adding bells and whistles to this. It is a clean continuation of funding to make sure that the most basic responsibility of government is fulfilled. And we'll see how that goes and see what happens. Thank you.

Speaker Johnson, is the vote today? As soon as possible. You've been watching House Speaker Mike Johnson speak on Capitol Hill, talking critically about the Senate's passing of a bill in the early hours of this morning to fund all of DHS through the end of the fiscal year, except for ICE and Border Patrol operations at Customs and Border Protection. Now, Johnson, referring to that bill as unconscionable to attempt to pass, and apparently many in the House agreed. The House rejected that bill that the Senate had passed. They're instead proposing a 60-day continuing resolution that would fully fund DHS. Senator Chuck Schumer saying that proposal would be dead on arrival if it makes its way to the Senate. We'll continue following this funding showdown on Capitol Hill.