The House of Representatives is poised to hold a rare weekend meeting as leaders scramble to address a looming partial government shutdown. With the House Rules Committee set to convene on Sunday at 4 p.m., the urgency of the situation is clear. This committee, which acts as a gatekeeper for legislation before a full vote, will consider a federal funding deal expected to pass the Senate on Friday. There’s a possibility that the full House could vote on this funding bill by Monday, just three days after the deadline to prevent a shutdown. This rapid turnaround reflects Speaker Mike Johnson’s commitment to act swiftly once the Senate vote concludes.
The current environment within Congress is highly charged. Senate Democrats recently walked away from a bipartisan agreement to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2026. Tensions flared following incidents involving federal law enforcement in Minneapolis, where two citizens lost their lives during protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. This has led Democrats to assert that they would block a major funding bill unless funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was removed.
As negotiations continue, the deal on the table would fund all government departments except DHS, which would receive only a two-week extension at current spending levels. This arrangement aims to provide Congress with time to negotiate stricter controls on immigration enforcement. However, this decision has not sat well with House Republicans. Speaker Johnson expressed dissatisfaction, indicating that it means interrupting government funding unnecessarily. “I’ve been very consistent and insistent that they should take the House’s bills that we sent over and negotiated very carefully in bipartisan fashion, and pass them,” Johnson remarked.
A senior Republican aide criticized the limited funding extension for DHS as “crazy,” claiming it gives Democrats the upper hand in future negotiations over immigration enforcement. “That hands more leverage to Democrats to derail immigration enforcement, and we’d be right back here again in two weeks with more crazy demands from the radical Left,” the aide cautioned. The dynamics within the House Rules Committee could prove crucial for the fate of this legislation. Influential members from the conservative House Freedom Caucus, such as Reps. Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, and Morgan Griffith, hold seats on the panel. There is uncertainty regarding their stance on the current deal, though Norman has voiced strong opposition. He declared that “there is no rational reason to remove DHS from the approval process,” accusing Democrats of attempting to undermine DHS’s integrity.
In stark terms, Norman laid down the gauntlet, challenging the Democrats with the statement, “If the Democrats want to shut the government down, ‘do it’!!” This pressure reflects a broader skepticism among conservatives about the negotiations and the perceived demands from the left. The situation not only illustrates the difficulties of bipartisan governance but also highlights the ongoing tensions regarding immigration policy and federal funding priorities.
The upcoming weekend meeting underscores a crucial moment for the House. As Congress races to prevent a shutdown, the actions and decisions made in the coming days could have lasting ramifications on both funding and immigration debates. The stakes are high, and the path forward remains fraught with contention.
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