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House conservatives are quietly grumbling about the deal President Donald Trump entered into with Senate Democrats to keep the government open and running — particularly regarding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Some Republican lawmakers are concerned that the plan will leave them forced to swallow concessions on immigration enforcement policies that they would not normally entertain while the GOP holds all the levers of power in Washington, albeit with slim majorities.
“I don’t think we have any more leverage,” one House Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly told Fox News Digital. “We just shot ourselves in the foot, and nine days later we’ll do it again.”
The compromise between Democrats and the White House funds 97% of the federal government through Sept. 30, but only keeps DHS running until Feb. 13.
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That’s because House and Senate Democrats walked away from an initial compromise that would similarly fund DHS through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2026, in exchange for added guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) like a new body-worn camera mandate and required training on de-escalation and public engagement.
The earlier plan passed the House, mostly with only GOP support, but was rejected by Senate Democrats in the wake of unrest in Minneapolis over Trump’s immigration crackdown. Federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens there during anti-ICE demonstrations, with tensions escalating thanks to those fatal encounters and angry rhetoric by progressive local officials.
Trump’s new deal for DHS with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is aimed at giving time for more bipartisan negotiations on a longer-term funding plan.
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But the move frustrated some House Republicans all the way up to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who told his conference on a lawmaker-only call Friday that he was “frustrated” by the compromise but that congressional Republicans needed to stick by Trump’s decisions as the leader of their party.
He also told reporters during a Tuesday morning press conference, “This is not my preferred route. I wanted to keep all six bills together.”
“But listen, the president agreed with Schumer that they would separate Homeland, and we’ll do that, and we’ll handle it,” Johnson continued. “The Republicans are going to do the responsible thing.”
Frustrations about Trump negotiating away their leverage were brought up again by House conservatives during a GOP lawmaker-only meeting on Tuesday morning, two sources told Fox News Digital.
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One senior House Republican said they’d heard such complaints but commended Trump for acting responsibly in a difficult situation.
“I think there were no good options. We obviously don’t want a shutdown, Democrats are very capable of that, they’ve demonstrated they’re willing to do that,” the senior House Republican said.
“They backed out on their end of the deal, and politically, they made a calculus, so the president had to be the bigger person. So, yeah, of course there was leverage that was given away. But leaders are the ones who can de-escalate. He seems to be de-escalating.”
Others who spoke on the record said they trusted Trump but were pessimistic about getting to Feb. 13 with a plan that Republicans could all support.
“Homeland Security is doing a tremendous job. It’s unfortunate that two people got shot, but it’s unfortunate that 20 million illegals came to America, too,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said Monday.
“Trump, I trust his judgment. I’m just saying my gut instinct is…they’ll use the two weeks to demagogue [DHS Secretary] Kristi Noem, they’ll use the two weeks to say how bad everything is with ICE. I think they’ll take the two weeks to make unreasonable demands on dismantling ICE. That’s not going to happen.”
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Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital, “I am concerned, but I’m hopeful that the president in the negotiations will hold firm, and hold strong.”
But two more House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital privately signaled they did not see a path to GOP success on DHS after Trump’s talks with Senate Democrats.
“Whatever will come of that will be something that I probably won’t be able to support,” one of them said.
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“How are we in a better negotiating position in two weeks? The only difference will be time,” the second GOP lawmaker said. “At the end of the day, I’m worried that we’re going to make a lot of concessions that we wouldn’t normally make.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital that Trump would hold firm on implementing his immigration law.
“President Trump and his entire Administration have been clear: we will not waver when implementing the President’s electoral mandate to enforce federal immigration law. Democrats should not hold funding hostage for disaster relief as many Americans continue to recover from winter storms,” Jackson said.
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