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US President Donald Trump urged the House of Representatives on Monday to end the partial government shutdown, but neither Republican nor Democrat lawmakers appeared ready to quickly approve the federal funding package he brokered with the Senate without first debating their own demands over immigration enforcement operations.
Democrats are refusing to provide the votes House Speaker Mike Johnson needs to push the package forward as they try to rein in the Trump administration’s deportation operations, after a second US citizen was fatally shot by immigration agents in Minneapolis.
The standoff forces Johnson to rely on his slim Republican majority in the House, which has its own complaints about the package, to fall in line behind Trump’s deal with Senate Democrats.
Voting is expected to begin on Tuesday, which will be the fourth day of the partial shutdown. The Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defence and other agencies saw their funding lapse on Saturday as Democrat lawmakers launched the partial shutdown.
While many of the operations at those departments are deemed essential and remain effectively uninterrupted, some workers may go without pay or be furloughed as a result.
“We need to get the Government open, and I hope all Republicans and Democrats will join me in supporting this Bill, and send it to my desk WITHOUT DELAY,” Trump wrote on social media.
“There can be NO CHANGES at this time,” Trump insisted. “We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown.”
The stalemate points to difficult days ahead as Johnson relies on Trump to help muscle the package to passage.
The US president struck a deal last week with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in which Homeland Security would only be funded temporarily, through to 13 February, as Congress continues to debate changes to immigration enforcement operations.
The Senate overwhelmingly approved the package with the rest of the government funding ahead of Saturday’s deadline.
Democrat demands
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries made it clear on Monday that his side sees no reason to help Johnson push the bill forward in a procedural step, something that the majority party in the House typically handles on its own.
With Johnson facing unrest from his own Republican ranks, Jeffries is seizing the leverage it provides Democrats to demand changes to immigration operations.
“On rare occasions have we stepped in to deal with Republican dysfunction,” Jeffries said at the Capitol.
Democrats are demanding restraints on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that go beyond $20 million (€17 million) for body cameras that is already in the bill.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday that officers on the ground in Minneapolis, including ICE, will be immediately issued body-worn cameras, and the program would be expanded nationwide as funding is available.
They also want to require that federal immigration agents unmask — noting that few, if any, other law enforcement agencies routinely mask themselves in the US — and they want officers to rely on judicial, rather than administrative, warrants and an end to roving patrols.
Certain Democrats, however, are splintering with leader Jeffries, and are pushing for quicker passage of the funding package to avoid government disruptions.
Additional sources • AP