Speaker Johnson faces tough choices as partial government shutdown drags and debate over ICE deepens

WASHINGTON– WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson faces tough days trying to pass a federal funding package and prevent a prolonged partial government shutdown as debate intensifies over the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration enforcement efforts.

Johnson said he was counting on President Donald Trump’s help to ensure passage. Trump reached a deal with senators to separate funding for the Department of Homeland Security from a broader program after public outrage over two shooting deaths during protests in Minneapolis over Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under the Senate-approved plan, DHS would be temporarily funded until Feb. 13, setting a deadline for Congress to try to find consensus on new restrictions on ICE operations.

“The president is running this,” Johnson, R-La., told “Fox News Sunday.”

“It’s up to him to do it this way,” the speaker said, adding that the Republican president has “already admitted that he wants to lower the volume” of federal immigration sweeps and searches.

A first test will come Monday afternoon at a committee meeting where Johnson will need his own Republican majority to advance the package after Democrats refused to provide the votes for early review. Johnson said he hoped the work could be completed for a vote in the full House, at least by Tuesday.

Democrats are demanding restrictions on ICE that go beyond the $20 million for body cameras already in the bill and want to require federal immigration agents to unmask and identify themselves and push to end roving patrols, among other changes.

“What is clear is that the Department of Homeland Security needs to be radically reformed,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Jeffries said the administration needs to begin negotiations now, not in the next two weeks, on changes to immigration enforcement operations.

“Masks should be taken off,” he said. “Judicial warrants absolutely should be required, consistent with the Constitution, in our view, before DHS or ICE agents break into Americans’ homes or snatch people from their cars.”

At the same time, Republicans in the House of Representatives, along with some allies in the Senate, are making their own demands, as they work to support Trump’s crackdown on immigrants in the United States.

The House Freedom Caucus has insisted on more funding for Homeland Security while some Republicans are pushing to include other measures, including the SAVE Act, a longtime Trump priority that would require proof of citizenship before Americans are eligible to participate in elections and vote.

Johnson said he would speak with lawmakers over the coming day to see what it would take to win support.

Meanwhile, a number of federal agencies are trapped in a funding impasse as the government was partially shut down over the weekend.

Defense, healthcare, transportation and housing are among the sectors that have been subject to closure directives from the administration, although many operations are deemed essential and services are not necessarily disrupted. Workers could find themselves without pay if the impasse continues. Some could be made redundant.

Lawmakers in both parties are increasingly concerned that the shutdown will disrupt the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which they rely on to help state constituents after storms and other disasters.

This is the second time in months that federal government operations have been disrupted, with Congress using the annual funding process as leverage to secure policy changes. Last fall, Democrats triggered what became the longest federal shutdown in history, 43 days, as they protested the expiration of health insurance tax breaks.

That shutdown ended with a promise to vote on proposals to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits. But in the face of opposition from the Republican Party, Democrats were unable to achieve their goal of keeping the subsidies in place. Insurance premiums soared in the new year for millions of people.

This time, the administration has expressed interest in a quicker resolution to the shutdown.

Johnson said he was in the Oval Office last week when Trump, accompanied by border czar Tom Homan, spoke with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York to reach an agreement on immigration enforcement changes.

“I think we’re on the right track to reaching an agreement,” Johnson said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Body cameras, already in the package, and an end to roving patrols by immigration agents are potential areas of agreement, Johnson said.

But he said removing masks and putting names on officers’ uniforms could lead to problems for law enforcement officers as they are targeted by protesters and their personal information is posted online.

“I don’t think the president would approve of it — and he shouldn’t,” Johnson said on Fox.

Democrats, however, said immigration operations were out of control and needed to end in Minneapolis and other cities.

A growing number of lawmakers are calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be fired or impeached.

“What’s happening in Minnesota right now is a dystopia,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, who has led efforts to stay the course for more change.

“ICE is making this country less safe, not safer today,” Murphy said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Our goal over the next two weeks must be to rein in an illegal and immoral immigration agency. »