Freedom Caucus Stalls Senate DHS Deal, Threatening Swift Passage

The House Freedom Caucus is strongly opposing the Senate deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), complicating the bill's swift passage in the House. Members of the hardline conservative caucus want a bill that includes a voter ID measure and funds Border Patrol and the child sex trafficking division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). However, the lawmakers are not necessarily demanding full ICE funding. Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) said the deal is bad for America. The Senate passed a DHS funding bill that omitted funding for ICE and Border Patrol.

The Freedom Caucus wants the bill to include a voter ID measure and funding for Border Patrol and ICE's child sex trafficking division. Harris stated, "The only thing we’re going to support is adding that funding into the bill, adding voter ID, sending it back to the Senate, make them come back in and do their work." The group is prepared to block any unanimous consent request to bring the bill up under suspension of the rules, which shuts down the simplest path for the legislation to reach the House floor on Friday. House rules only allow the suspension process from Monday through Wednesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) needs to overcome procedural hurdles to pass the bill swiftly. This requires him to seek unanimous consent or explore other avenues. Another option for Republican leaders is to bring the bill up in the House Rules Committee with a rule that has same-day authority, which would require two-thirds of the House to approve. It is unclear if Democrats would provide the necessary votes to clear that threshold. Freedom Caucus members met in Johnson’s office to discuss the Senate deal, but their position did not change, according to Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).

The Freedom Caucus's opposition hinders the quick approval of the bill. Johnson must seek unanimous consent for the suspension of the rules or explore other alternatives. The suspension process is only possible from Monday to Wednesday. Another path is to present the bill in the House Rules Committee, which would require a two-thirds majority. The meeting between the Freedom Caucus and Johnson did not change the group's stance.

Andy Harris, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, stated, "We can’t believe that the Senate abdicated its responsibility this morning of not funding the child sex trafficking division of ICE, that they didn’t fund the Border Patrol. I guess the Democrats want a wide open border." Chip Roy (R-Texas) stated, "We’ll see what happens, but we’re not going to move the Senate bill today."