The Trump administration announced that TSA workers would begin receiving their paychecks on Monday, which is a good thing, but if the situation is anything like previous government shutdowns, the executive branch does not have the resources to handle more than one pay period for TSA workers.
The Senate struck a deal and passed legislation to fund all other parts of DHS except ICE and the Border Patrol.
All House Republicans had to do was not lose their collective minds and rubber stamp it before leaving.
Since it’s Donald Trump and Mike Johnson’s House Republicans, they immediately lost their minds, blew it, and are instead trying to get the Senate to pass a 60-day CR.
The problem is that the Senate has already left town for a two-week break over Easter.
Why did House Republicans decide to shoot themselves in both feet?
Let President Mike Johnson explain:
This bet that was made last night is a joke. I am completely convinced that it is impossible for every Republican in the Senate to read the language of this bill. And I’m going to, I’m just going to read you an excerpt from it because it’s quite alarming and it says everything you need to know in section four. Um, it’s on page two of the bill.
It’s, it’s real. This extract is an actual copy of the bill. We read, I quote, the content printed under the titles of this bill. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Security operations under the heading of U.S. Customs, Border Patrol and Protection shall have no force or effect for purposes of this Act.
Amounts specified in the final invoice under Border Security Operations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. And under the headings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement within the Department of Homeland Security, the value will be zero. We’re not doing that, and it seems unconscionable to me that the Democrats would impose some sort of negotiation at three o’clock in the morning and try to get this through to the American people and then get on their planes and go home for their vacation and pretend and think that we’re going to accept this.
The House Republicans’ big idea is to pass a 60-day CR to fund ICE and the Border Patrol, but in reality, that’s not the House Republicans’ idea. The idea came from Trump.
Here are Johnson’s not-so-subtle hints that this madness is coming from Trump.