Lawmakers are once again staring down the barrel of a government shutdown after Congress failed to reach a spending deal Monday amid disagreements over illegal border crossings.
The White House and Democratic leaders remained at an impasse with Republicans over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the southern border and enforces immigration laws.
The White House rejected an offer over the weekend from Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, to extend Homeland Security funding at current levels plus some extra to be included as “anomalies” to combat an expected budget shortfall.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday that President Biden wants a full-year budget and was seeking more “operational funding” for DHS to handle migrants overwhelming the U.S.-Mexico border.
“They have maximized their operations. They have done the work to do what they can at the funding levels that they are currently operating in,” she said. “We believe that DHS needs additional funding — we’ve always said that — to deal with the security operations and much more that we’re dealing with at the border.”
Mr. Johnson’s communications director, Raj Shah, called the White House’s position “misleading and counterproductive to reaching a bipartisan agreement to avoid a government shutdown.”
Republicans are seeking more funding for detention capacity of illegal immigrants.
“Republicans have always said we will provide all the resources necessary for enforcement but not a blank check to simply ‘manage’ people into the country and bail out sanctuary cities,” a senior House GOP aide told The Washington Times. “Republicans have been clear and consistent that more appropriations are necessary for border enforcement, which Democrats had consistently objected to.”
Congress narrowly avoided a partial shutdown earlier this month after a separate six-bill funding package was signed into law by President Biden just hours before the deadline.
Negotiators have until Friday at midnight to pass the remaining six-bill package or face a partial government shutdown. The package’s other five components are finished, which would fund Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services and Education; Financial Services; Legislative Branch and State Department-Foreign Operations.
House Republican leaders previously vowed to give members 72 hours to review any deal before passing it, suggesting Congress may be well on its way to at least a brief shutdown this weekend unless leaders go back on their word. The Senate typically takes at least a full day or more to pass funding measures once received by the House.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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