House Republicans made clear today that while they don’t plan on standing in the way of advancing a package to end the partial government shutdown, lawmakers face an uphill battle to reach a bipartisan compromise to fund the Department of Homeland Security and reform immigration enforcement in two weeks.
GOP Rep. Eric Burlison, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said he plans to vote against the bill, though he will not block it from coming to the floor.
The Missouri Republican said he fears losing “leverage” against Democrats in upcoming negotiations over DHS funding, calling it “foolish” to pass a two-week bill to keep the department open while lawmakers attempt to reach a compromise.
“I think in two weeks, it’s we’re going to be taking a lot of the Democrat demands, because we have no leverage,” he said, adding that he thinks requiring immigration agents to wear body cameras is “pretty reasonable.”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who represents a swing state in New York, said she thinks some of Democrats’ demands to reform ICE are “reasonable,” and “there is a ability here to come to an agreement where … we can protect our law enforcement, we can protect the immigrant community, and we can protect the safety of the public.”
However, Malliotakis said the “biggest sticking point” is Democratic mayors and governors not cooperating with federal agents and “handing over criminals,” noting her own city’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani vowing to protect undocumented immigrants against ICE raids.
“If that was done, instead of, instead of having to go on the street to find these individuals, which makes it less safe for everybody involved, you’d be able to get the individuals directly from the jails,” she said.
GOP leaders have indicated that targeting sanctuary city policies will be a key demand they’ll make in DHS funding negotiations.
