Homeland Security not included in latest appropriations minibus
House appropriators dropped funding for the Department of Homeland Security from their latest “minibus” spending package, reversing an earlier plan by Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole. The current package includes $26.3 billion for Financial Services and $50 billion for National Security and the State Department, and has backing from top House democratic appropriator Rosa DeLauro. Lawmakers hope to include Homeland Security in a final, larger minibus (potentially paired with Defense, labor-HHS, and Transportation-HUD) due the week of Jan. 19, but adding DHS could make passage harder ahead of the Jan. 30 funding deadline. The change follows backlash after an ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis that killed Renee Good, which prompted some Democrats to push for restrictions on ICE and renewed scrutiny from Senate Democrats. So far the House has passed six of 12 appropriations bills and is aiming to finish the rest to avoid another short-term continuing resolution.
Homeland Security bill removed from latest funding package
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security will not be included in the next slate of appropriations bills that dropped on Sunday, deviating from the original plan and coming after uproar over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer-involved shooting in Minneapolis.
The House Appropriations Committee released text for its next package, or “minibus,” that comprises a bill for Financial Services-General Government and a bill for National Security and the State Department. Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) told reporters last week that the minibus would include legislation funding Homeland Security, but that is no longer the case.
Instead, the package includes $26.3 billion for Financial Services and $50 billion for National Security and the State Department. It has the support of ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the top House Democratic appropriator, who said it “continues Democrats’ rejection of cuts proposed by the Trump White House and Republicans in Congress.”
This minibus is viewed as the least controversial compared to the first package, passed last week, and the final package, expected to come the week of Jan. 19. A source familiar with GOP leadership told the Washington Examiner that the goal is to include Homeland Security in the final minibus with Defense, Labor-Health and Human Services, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development.
That final package was already expected to be difficult for Republican leadership to pass without Homeland Security, so adding it into the mix could make things more complicated ahead of the funding deadline at the end of January.
The House passed the first minibus, comprising the Commerce, Justice, and Science, Energy and Water, and the Interior and Environment bills, last week. With six of the 12 appropriations passed so far, appropriators are hoping to pass the remaining six before the deadline on Jan. 30 to avoid another continuing resolution, or short-term spending deal.
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The package comes a few days after an ICE-involved incident in Minneapolis, in which a U.S. citizen, Renee Good, 37, was shot and killed. The shooting has received widespread condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans, but a majority of the GOP has expressed support for ICE and law enforcement officers carrying out the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
The shooting caused some Democrats to call for appropriators to demand restrictions on ICE in appropriations legislation, such as Defense or Homeland Security, late last week. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said during a press conference on Jan. 8 that it was something Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee would take a look at.
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