The Senate voted early Friday morning to fund the Department of Homeland Security, but it left out immigration enforcement and deportation. This will, hopefully, ease airport constrataints. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
The Senate unanimously voted to reopen the Department of Homeland Security for all except immigration enforcement and deportation.
The senators approved the package at 2:20 a.m. EDT Friday. President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that he would tell new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to “immediately pay our [Transportation Security Administration] Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation.”
“Senate Democrats were clear: no blank check for a lawless ICE and Border Patrol,” Democratic leader Senator Chuck Schumer, of New York, said after the bill passed.
The funding lapse has lasted 42 days, causing extreme delays at airports because TSA workers quit or called out sick.
Democrats have refused to vote for any package that doesn’t rein in ICE and Border Patrol.
The bill now has to pass the House of Representatives, which will likely have a vote Friday.
“Hopefully they’ll be around, and we can get at least a lot of the government opened up again, and then we’ll go from there,” Senate Republican leader John Thune, R-S.D., said.
Thune also blamed Democrats.
“President Trump should never have had to step in to rescue TSA workers and U.S. air travel. We are here because, thanks to Democrats’ determined refusal to reach an agreement, there will be no Homeland Security funding bill this year.”
After the vote, Schumer said: “In the wake of the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Senate Democrats were clear. No blank check for a lawless ICE and Border Patrol. This long overdue agreement funds TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA, CISA, strengthens security at the border and the ports of entry, and keeps Americans safe.”
The House was scheduled to have a 10 a.m. unrelated vote before leaving for a two-week recess.
It’s not clear whether the House will pass the measure because several hard-right Republicans have said they don’t like the Senate’s plan. They oppose any funding measure that leaves out immigration enforcement.
The bill includes some small measures that Senate Republicans had agreed to earlier, including body cameras for immigration agents. It doesn’t prevent agents from wearing masks or using administrative warrants.
Republicans said they will create a separate bill to fund immigration enforcement and include the SAVE Act, which would make voting much more difficult for many people. They plan to use the reconciliation process to push that bill through without Democrats. But it will need nearly unanimous support in the GOP, which isn’t guaranteed because of the midterm elections happening later this year.
This week in Washington
President Donald Trump speaks as Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo
