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Congress on Tuesday afternoon gave final approval to an agreement that funds multiple US government agencies through September, ending a short partial shutdown — even as an impasse over immigration continues.
The agreement that passed the House, 217-214, includes bipartisan priorities for health, labor, and other programs, while extending Department of Homeland Security funding at current levels only until Feb. 13. That’s intended to give negotiators in both parties enough time to reach an agreement on immigration enforcement priorities after the killing of two US citizens in Minneapolis.
However, reaching that accord on DHS funding in time will prove extremely difficult, given how far apart President Donald Trump’s party is from Democrats who have issued a series of demands to rein in Trump’s aggressive enforcement approach.
Twenty-one Democrats supported the funding measure, while 21 Republicans crossed the aisle to oppose it.
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House Republicans ultimately advance the Senate-approved government spending deal after Trump quashed a conservative rebellion over voter ID.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said that she and Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., “feel very comfortable” voting yes after Trump assured them at the White House that Senate Majority Leader John Thune is weighing a “standing filibuster” to force a vote on the GOP’s proposal to require proof of citizenship to cast a ballot.
“We want a vote on voter ID in the Senate, and I think we’re going to get it,” Luna said.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Semafor that White House officials would pitch the full House Freedom Caucus on “a path forward for” the voter ID bill on Monday night.
Thune said a vote on it would occur “soon enough,” but his office had no further guidance on Luna’s comments.