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House conservatives are expressing skepticism as Senate Democrats and the White House announce a deal has been reached to fund the government without a long-term Department of Homeland Security funding bill. One House member warned that Republicans should not give in to demands to “handcuff ICE.”
With any deal reached in the Senate needing approval in the House of Representatives, Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital that “[Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer’s current demands, compounded by a lack of conservative priorities, are an absolute non-starter” in the lower chamber.
“With Chuck Schumer’s demands to handcuff ICE and his Democrat colleagues threatening to shut down the government over it, this is yet another example of the radical Left prioritizing criminals over American citizens,” said Harris.
Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Donald Trump labored over a deal from late night Wednesday until Thursday evening after the top Senate Democrat unleashed several funding demands and the White House accused Schumer of blocking a meeting with rank-and-file Democrats.
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“The separation of the five bipartisan bills the Democrats asked for + the two-week DHS [continuing resolution] has been agreed to,” Schumer said in a statement.
In response, one House conservative remarked to Fox News Digital, “We’re still looking at what is being discussed in the deal, but 14 days is awfully short.”
“We sure think we should be getting something out of this deal when it’s Democrats who are threatening shutdown, not Republicans,” the House member said.
In a Truth Social post on Thursday evening, Trump urged the GOP to agree to the deal, saying, “Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much-needed bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.”
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The president continued that the “only thing that can slow our Country down is another long and damaging Government Shutdown.”
“I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government, without delay,” Trump said. “Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before).”
The deal brokered between the two would see the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill stripped from the broader six-bill package. Schumer and Democrats have been adamant that if the bill were sidelined, they’d vote for the remaining five, which includes funding for the Pentagon.
Their agreement also tees up a short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), for two weeks to keep the agency funded while lawmakers negotiate restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
If passed in the Senate, the deal would still need to pass the House again. With lawmakers there not expected back in Washington until Feb. 2, three days after the Jan. 30 funding deadline, a brief partial government shutdown is all but certain.
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Tensions have been boiling over in the House over the prospect of the Senate’s compromise on DHS.
Caucus member Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital via text message on Thursday, “THE HOUSE DID OUR JOB BY PASSING THE REMAINING SIX APPROPRIATION BILLS TO THE SENATE AND THERE IS NO RATIONAL REASON TO REMOVE DHS FROM THE APPROVAL PROCESS.”
Norman accused Democrats of trying to “demonize” and “bludgeon” DHS, adding, “IF THE DEMOCRATS WANT TO SHUT THE GOVERNMENT DOWN, ‘DO IT’!!”
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Meanwhile, Mark Bednar, a GOP strategist and former spokesperson for then Speaker Kevin McCarthy, told Fox News Digital that “President Trump wants to ensure that our troops, air traffic controllers, and DHS patriots are on the job and get paid, and this path will help ensure they do that.”
“It’s now on Democrats to negotiate in good faith with President Trump so that the homeland is secured with a long-term funding bill – because that’s what the American people want and deserve,” said Bedner.
Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind and Alex Miller contributed to this report.
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