Govt. funding bills pass House on razor-thin margins, head to Trump's desk

"Funding the government is not an optional exercise – it’s the most basic duty we have in Congress,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told lawmakers before the vote. “I share the frustrations of many that the Senate altered our deal at the last minute. But our obligation is not to those emotions – it’s to the American people.”

The $1.2 trillion legislation funds State-Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, and Transportation-HUD through Sept. 30. 

It also includes a two-week Continuing Resolution in place of the Homeland Security bill, a last-minute change by the Senate that required the package to return to the House. Senate Democrats had demanded the change in exchange for their votes after the second fatal shooting of a protester in Minneapolis. 

The CR temporarily freezes DHS and related departments’ funding at current levels as Democrats and Republicans craft a new Homeland Security bill that includes immigration enforcement reforms.

The action stung many House Republicans, causing 21 of them to vote against the package, which only succeeded due to 21 Democrats supporting it.

“Funding Democrat earmarks and resettlement money while giving DHS two weeks is not a compromise,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said on social media. “It’s a bad deal.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has outlined Democrats’ demands, which include barring agents from wearing masks, enforcing body-worn cameras, and requiring agents to obtain judicial warrants on top of immigration court warrants in order to arrest people.

While Republican leaders have expressed support for measures like requiring body-worn cameras, they firmly oppose warrant reform. Lawmakers have until Feb. 13 to come to an agreement, or else risk another partial shutdown.