DC court rulings stall Trump agenda across immigration, policing, Fed — raising stakes on executive power
President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda is hitting repeated roadblocks in Washington, D.C., federal court, where judges have halted major policies — fueling a growing clash over whether the judiciary is checking executive power or overstepping into it. The rulings have halted key parts of Trump’s agenda on immigration, policing and federal authority, intensifying debate over whether courts are acting as a constitutional check or obstructing elected leadership. Here are some of the biggest court clashes Trump is facing in D.C. federal court. One of the biggest fights is also one of the earliest lawsuits filed against the Trump administration in D.C. federal court — centered on the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law, to deport certain migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison. Civil rights groups and immigration advocates have argued the Trump administration is stretching the law beyond its intended use case, including the three previous times it was used in U.S. history — most recently, during World War II. The Trump administration has defended the move as a lawful exercise of executive authority over national security and immigration enforcement. The case quickly landed in D.C. federal court and has since moved up on appeal, with higher courts now weighing the scope of the president’s authority under the centuries-old statute. The outcome could have sweeping implications for how rarely used emergency powers are applied in modern immigration policy. EX-JUDGES BLAST TOP TRUMP DOJ OFFICIAL FOR DECLARING ‘WAR’ ON COURTS The scope of federal power over states and localities has also been tested. Courts have imposed limits on Trump’s efforts to assert control over National Guard units, raising federalism concerns about the balance between state and federal authority. The standoff began in August 2025. Trump moved to expand federal control over policing in Washington, D.C., including deploying National Guard troops to respond to crime. A related lawsuit, District of Columbia v. Trump, challenges what city officials describe as an unprecedented federal intrusion into local policing. The case remains a key test of presidential authority over the nation’s capital. The Supreme Court agreed to hear a pair of appeals from the Trump administration seeking to immediately halt Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for Haitian migrants. Haitians were first granted TPS status in 2010 after a devastating earthquake. Previously, a lower court judge in D.C., U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, had blocked the Trump administration from lifting the TPS designation. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the high court to take up the broader issue of whether the Trump administration can revoke TPS protections for other migrants living in the U.S. — citing the Justice Department’s appeal of a similar case centered on TPS protections for Syrian migrants that was kicked to the high court earlier this year. “Unless the court resolves the merits of these challenges — issues that have now been ventilated in courts nationwide — this unsustainable cycle will repeat again and again, spawning more competing rulings and competing views of what to make of this court’s interim orders,” Sauer said last week. “This court should break that cycle.” The appeal comes as the Trump administration has sought to wind down most TPS designations, arguing the programs have been extended for too long under Democratic presidents. “Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago,” said then-spokesperson for DHS Tricia McLaughlin. “It was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades.” SCOTUS TO REVIEW TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP Early in the term, the administration’s effort to rapidly scale back the U.S. Agency for International Development was halted by a federal judge, who blocked mass leave orders and the dismantling of the agency’s workforce. The Supreme Court eventually intervened in the case. Last March, the high court denied the Trump administration’s request to block a lower court’s order for the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid money for previously completed projects, and leaving to the lower court judge the details of how those contracts should be paid out. That suit was eventually appealed to a higher court, where litigation remains pending. BIDEN-APPOINTED FEDERAL JUDGE RULES TRUMP’S ‘THIRD COUNTRY’ DEPORTATION POLICY IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL The independence of the Federal Reserve is also an issue before the courts. Lawyers for the Trump administration asked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg earlier this month to reconsider an earlier order that quashed grand jury subpoenas of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, appearing to make good on a vow from U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro to appeal the order to a higher court. In the Justice Department’s motion for reconsideration that was submitted Monday, prosecutors argued that the court “applied an incorrect legal standard, erred with respect to certain facts, and overlooked other relevant facts.” They argued that a subpoena should be allowed when there is even a “reasonable possibility” that the category of materials the government seeks will produce information “relevant to the general subject of the grand jury’s investigation,” and even where a subpoena recipient “proposes a plausible theory of an ulterior motive.” The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a separate case, Trump v. Cook, earlier this year. That case centered on whether Trump has the power to fire Lisa Cook from the Fed’s board of governors — without notice and largely without the ability for courts to challenge the “for cause” provision underpinning her removal. Cook remains in her position for now, following an order from U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb. Meanwhile, White House officials have railed against the “activist” judges who they have accused of overstepping their agenda or acting with a political agenda to halt or pause Trump’s policies from taking force.
Dem senators dodge crucial question on illegal alien accused of killing Chicago college student
While Republican senators, like Texas’ Ted Cruz and Florida’s Rick Scott, were quick to condemn the policies that kept the illegal immigrant killer of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman from being deported, Democratic senators dodged questions on whether Gorman’s killer should have previously been deported prior to this month’s murder. Gorman, who was a student at Loyola University of Chicago at the time of her death, was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, Jose Medina, 25. Medina was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol on May 9, 2023, but was subsequently released into the U.S. under the Biden administration, according to Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. A short time later, Medina was arrested for shoplifting in Chicago, but was again released on June 19, 2023, DHS said. A judge put a warrant out on Medina after he failed to appear in court for his shoplifting charge, which was still active at the time of Gorman’s killing, according to the Chicago Sun Times. “Shoplifting in and of itself is not a violent crime. It’s not an indicator of a person that’s leaning toward violent crime,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., when asked about Medina’s case and whether he should’ve been deported prior to Gorman’s murder. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ACCUSED OF KILLING CHICAGO COLLEGE STUDENT TO FACE COURT AFTER TUBERCULOSIS DELAY “You’re asking me to speculate on a bunch of things, and I can’t answer that,” said Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., when asked if Gorman’s killer, and other illegal immigrant murderers who had significant criminal records at the time of their arrests, should have been deported before people got hurt. “I don’t know the cases. I trust our justice system to do the right thing and hold people accountable.” Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., responded that the Trump administration’s broad deportation crackdowns have prevented federal law enforcement from targeting genuinely dangerous people, an argument pushed by other top Democrats in Congress. “I think that if Trump cleared out Chicago and if ICE did their job, he wouldn’t be here, right?” Duckworth said as she got onto an elevator on Capitol Hill. “But they deported people who are not . . . [unintelligible].” Meanwhile, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., offered a more judicious response, but also suggested the style by which the Trump administration is deporting people is problematic. “Do I think violent criminals should be deported? Yes,” Slotkin said, adding it is an “easy” call to deport someone who has been “accused and properly prosecuted.” But, Slotkin added, “Innocent civilians who are protesting their government and using their freedom of speech should not be fingered and booted out.” Democrats who spoke with Fox News Digital did quickly agree that violent criminals who entered and are residing in the country unlawfully should be deported. SHERIDAN GORMAN’S UNIVERSITY NEWSPAPER TOUTS ICE TRACKER AFTER FRESHMAN ALLEGEDLY MURDERED BY ILLEGAL ALIEN “Anybody who violates, or creates crime in this country — particularly kills somebody — should not only be held accountable in the United States, but, yes, there should be immigration enforcement against that individual,” Cortez-Masto said. “Every community deserves to feel safe, and I think people who commit violent crimes should not be allowed to either be in our country, or to be among our communities,” added Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md. Durbin, meanwhile, qualified his comments about Medina’s shoplifting charge by admitting, “We ought to do a careful examination of people coming into this country and those who want to stay in this country,” adding that, “If they are dangerous to the community, they need to be denied entry or taken out of the country later.” But Republican Senators Cruz and Scott were quick to bash Democrats for allegedly caring more about illegal immigrants than American citizens. “It’s tragic, and it was avoidable,” Cruz said when approached about Gorman’s death and Medina not being deported. “The Democrats are so radical they prioritize illegal immigrants over American citizens.” “It’s disgusting that these people say, ‘Oh, they act like they care about Americans.’ But then you look at their actions — they care about people who are here violently hurting Americans,” Scott complained.
House Republicans pass rival DHS plan, setting up Senate fight as shutdown set to become longest in history
House Republicans passed a short-term funding patch for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the fierce objections of Democratic lawmakers late Friday evening. But the 42-day shutdown that has snarled air travel and left tens of thousands of federal employees without pay is far from over. House lawmakers voted 213-203 largely along party lines to approve a two-month funding extension for the beleaguered department, which has been operating without full-year appropriations since the funding lapse began on Feb. 14. Reps. Don Davis, D-N.C., Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, crossed party lines to support the measure. More than a dozen lawmakers did not vote. DEMOCRATS RIP TRUMP’S ICE AIRPORT MOVE AS SHUTDOWN NEARS 40 DAYS: ‘NO REASON’ The House-passed DHS measure faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Democrats have filibustered GOP-authored legislation that includes immigration funding for the past six weeks. Both chambers are scheduled to leave Washington for an Easter recess without ending the funding standoff, paving the way for the partial government shutdown to become the longest in history. “In those eight weeks, we will figure this out with Democrats and figure out a couple of reforms or whatever they need to make sure that we do this right, but we are going to protect the homeland. We have to,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on the Ingraham Angle on Friday evening. “It’s the most important and most basic function of Congress, and Democrats don’t want to do that.” Democratic lawmakers, who have repeatedly voted against DHS spending bills funding President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown absent reforms, echoed the same position Friday. “House Republicans have decided that they would rather inconvenience you, create chaos for you and for your families so that they can continue to jam their extreme right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people so they can continue to spend billions of dollars for ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to brutalize and kill American citizens,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said during a news conference Friday. The vote came after House GOP leadership and the conservative House Freedom Caucus unequivocally rejected a Senate-passed deal earlier on Friday. The agreement, which passed the Senate unanimously, would have funded the vast majority of DHS sub-agencies minus ICE and parts of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The National Border Patrol Council endorsed the House bill late Friday, arguing the Senate’s failure to fund all of DHS is “completely unacceptable and should not stand.” JAYAPAL DOUBLES DOWN ON ANTI-ICE TERROR CLAIMS AS DHS SHUTDOWN TRIGGERS HISTORIC TRAVEL CHAOS Senate Republicans have teased a second “big, beautiful” bill to give additional funding to ICE and the Border Patrol, though that could be a difficult feat in an election year with slim majorities in both chambers. “It wasn’t good. It wasn’t appropriate,” Trump told Fox News in an interview Friday, referring to the Senate agreement. “You can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund ICE.” House GOP leadership has also voiced concern about funding ICE and the Border Patrol through a second budget reconciliation package. “That’s a very difficult task. It is a high-risk gamble for us to assume that we could do that,” Johnson told the Ingraham Angle. “And in the meantime, people are still going unpaid in this. We’ve got to make sure that we take care of those who take care of ourselves.” The most pressing pain point of the shutdown — a shortage of Transportation Security Administration employees at airports nationwide — is set to be alleviated. The staffing constraints had created hours-long wait times at TSA security checkpoints, leading to travel disruptions and missed flights. Trump, through an executive order, directed DHS to pay the more than 50,000 TSA personnel who had been reporting to work without compensation since the start of the shutdown to cover their salaries. The agents are expected to receive their first full paychecks in more than six weeks on Monday.
Trump touts progress in Iran talks and success in Venezuela, says ‘Cuba is next’
President Donald Trump on Friday signaled a shift away from the war with Iran after apparent positive negotiations this week and the administration’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, saying “Cuba is next.” While speaking in Florida at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute Summit at the Faena Forum in Miami Beach, Trump said even though he campaigned on peace through strength, sometimes force is necessary. “And Cuba is next, by the way. But pretend I didn’t say that,” Trump said. “Please, please, please media, please disregard that statement. Thank you very much — Cuba’s next.” TRUMP TOUTS ‘MASSIVE’ IRAN ‘PRESENT’ LINKED TO STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS DEAL TALKS HEAT UP He added that he thought NATO’s absence in negotiations with Iran was a “tremendous mistake.” “They just weren’t there,” he said. “It’s going to make a lot of money for the United States because we spent hundreds of billions of dollars a year on NATO, hundreds of protecting them. And we would have always been there for them. But now, based on their actions, I guess we don’t have to be, do we?” TRUMP LASHES OUT AT ‘SICK’ IRANIAN LEADERS, CONFIRMS ESTIMATED TIMELINE FOR ENDING WAR The president talked about the Strait of Hormuz, which he pressured NATO to help the U.S. reopen. “We’re negotiating [with Iran] now, and it would be great if we could do something, but they have to open it up,” he said. “They have to open up the Strait of Trump — I mean, Hormuz. … The fake news will say he accidentally said [that]. No, there’s no accidents with me.” TRUMP THREATENS KEY IRANIAN GAS FIELD AFTER ISRAELI STRIKE Previously, when asked about control of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said the U.S. will “have control of anything we want.” The Iranian regime has imposed multimillion-dollar charges on some tankers transiting the critical global shipping choke point, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply flows.
Watchdog blasts BBC, CNN, NYT for applying ‘war crime’ label almost exclusively to US, Israel in Iran conflict
Mainstream media outlets reportedly used the phrase “war crime” nearly three dozen times in the first three weeks of the Iran conflict, but 88% of that usage was directed toward the U.S. or Israel, according to an analysis released by a U.S.-based, Mideast-focused media watchdog. CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, and its research manager, David Litman, released a study Wednesday counting 32 uses of the term “war crime” from the BBC, CNN, NBC News, The New York Times and The Washington Post. In his review, Litman asked readers to consider how the term “war crime” has been applied in reporting on the conflict, noting that simple internet searches return usages “almost exclusively” against the U.S. and Israel. MEDIA UNDER FIRE: JOURNALISTS KEEP QUESTIONING IRAN WAR AS HEGSETH CALLS THEM ‘UNPATRIOTIC’ AND ‘ANTI-TRUMP’ “CAMERA found 32 total applications of the phrase ‘war crime’ during the first three weeks of the war (Feb. 28-Mar. 21). Of those, 28 (88 percent) were directed solely toward the actions of the United States and/or Israel,” Litman wrote on CAMERA’s website. “Zero were directed solely toward the actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Four (12 percent) were unattributed or directed at both sides.” CAMERA found nearly all references stemmed from an airstrike early in the conflict that allegedly destroyed a school in Minab, Iran. The Pentagon is continuing to investigate the incident, according to CAMERA. “Several of the other allegations refer to the sinking of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean in what can assuredly be classified as a lawful attack,” Litman wrote. The analysis also contrasted that usage with events that have not been labeled “war crimes” in CAMERA’s findings. The group cited cluster bombs fired by Iran, many of which hit populated areas in Israel and elsewhere. “While cluster munitions are not universally banned, using them to target populated areas almost certainly constitutes a war crime,” the analysis found. CAMERA also pointed to Iranian strikes that hit energy and other key installations in nations not officially engaged in the conflict, such as Kuwait and Bahrain. PETE HEGSETH CRITICIZES ‘FAKE NEWS’ COVERAGE OF IRAN STRIKES, SAYS ONLY TRAGEDIES MAKE FRONT PAGE The analysis found that, among the mainstream media sources examined, the term “war crime” was not applied to these strikes, and if Iran was cited in a war crimes discussion, it was paired with equal criticism of the West. “This journalistic malpractice inverts reality,” Litman wrote. George Mason law professor Adam Mossoff commented on the analysis, writing on X that “data analytics confirm huge bias in favor of pro-Islamic regime of Iran by BBC, CNN, NBC and NY Times.” “These media orgs used ‘war crime’ 32 times in news reports in the first 3 weeks of the U.S./Israel-Iran war. Zero references solely to crimes by Islamic regime, and 88% media uses referred solely to U.S. or Israel. “Islamic regime uses cluster bombs against Israeli civilians, shoots missiles and suicide drones at civilian targets in numerous Arab countries not involved in war, fires missiles at holy sites in Old Jerusalem, [but] zero identification of these war crimes as standalone crimes by major Western media organizations. This is shameful.” Fox News Digital reached out to communications officials at CNN, the BBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC News for comment but did not hear back by deadline. CAMERA was founded in Washington in 1982 by social worker Winifred Meiselman in response to The Washington Post’s coverage of Israel’s incursion into Lebanon and allegations of anti-Israel bias. Early advisors included Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa; former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, R-Minn.; and former Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., according to its website.
White House slams ‘trash reporting’ over claims ICE chief hospitalized for stress, yelled at by Trump admin
The White House pushed back hard Friday against a news report that Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had been hospitalized at least twice for stress-related issues with the Trump administration that left him visibly upset and strained. The pushback came after a Politico report said Lyons was hospitalized at least twice while carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. The stress has left Lyons unable to carry out key decisions, the report states, citing two current and two former administration officials who were unnamed. ICE ASSAULTS SPIKE 1,500% AS DEMS DRAW ‘HARD RED LINE’ TO UNMASK AGENTS IN DHS BATTLE “He would be visibly upset and struggling to make the decisions that were needed to be made by the director,” one former unnamed official told the news website. “Trash reporting from a trash “reporter” pushing tabloid b——- in an attempt to divide and distract. Todd Lyons is an American Patriot,” the White House Rapid Response X account said in response to the story. The episodes were attributed to pressure from above for Lyons to ramp up deportations and from top advisor Stephen Miller, who allegedly yelled at Lyons during morning phone calls with administration officials, Politico reported. “This is b——- and more of the trash that Daniel Lippman has peddled over the years in the name of clicks and clout,” Miller’s wife, Katie Miller, wrote on X in response to the Politico reporter’s story. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Politico was given “on record” denials prior to the story being published. WHITE HOUSE BLASTS TOP HOUSE DEMOCRAT AS A ‘BUFFOON’ AFTER JEFFRIES BRANDS STEPHEN MILLER A ‘HATEFUL BIGOT’ “Shame on Politico for publishing such inaccurate trash,” Jackson wrote on X. “Todd Lyons is an American patriot who has worked tirelessly to undo Biden’s disastrous immigration policies that wreaked havoc on American communities. “And the American people are deeply appreciative for his hard work making our country safer. Despite multiple on record denials and sources refuting their pathetic ‘reporting’ and *still* ran with this absurd article.” The reported hospitalizations took place over several months. In one incident, Lyons was driven to a hospital by his security detail, and he was admitted overnight. In September, Lyons became distressed that ICE agents were unable to locate an illegal immigrant in Los Ángeles during a ride-along with top administration officials. One of his bodyguards took a portable defibrillator from a nearby government office to Lyons in case he needed medical intervention, the report said. After heated calls with Miller, Lyons expressed frustration that the White House was often mad at his agency, according to the current official and former official who heard such comments. “Todd, Stephen and the entire White House team have a great working relationship and coordinate closely to deliver on the president’s many promises,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “Todd Lyons is an American patriot who has worked tirelessly to undo Biden’s disastrous immigration policies that wreaked havoc on American communities.” Fox News Digital has reached out to ICE and Politico.
WATCH: Trump goes viral for illustrating how to cut government waste with his favorite White House pen
President Donald Trump turned heads again this week for a viral Cabinet meeting tangent about a favorite custom White House Sharpie. He said the marker is an example of how he can get “better” results for less cost. The president brought up the pen while criticizing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over a new headquarters, which he said costs the government $4 billion. “If it was properly done and planned, you would have done that building for — I would have done it — for $25 million, and it would be better,” he said. He then reached for a marker on a table and said, “See this pen right here? This pen is an interesting example.” TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER ENSURING TSA WORKERS ARE PAID DURING DHS SHUTDOWN Trump said he was having issues with the old Oval Office pens, which he said were inlaid with gold and silver, running out of ink. He said he also felt “guilty” about wasting money by handing them out to as many as 40 people every time he signed an executive action. So, he decided to replace the expensive pens with customized White House Sharpies. “It’s the same thing,” he told his Cabinet and members of the press. “This pen is very inexpensive, but it writes well; I like it. “I came here, and they have thousand-dollar pens, and you hand pens out. You’re signing, and you’re handing them out. You’re handing them out with all these people. Sometimes, you have 30, 40 people, and they were a thousand dollars apiece,” he said. “Beautiful pen, ballpoint, a thousand. There was gold, silver. Gorgeous. But I’m handing it out to kids that don’t even know what they are. ‘What is this, Mommy?’ It’s kids, they’re getting a pen for a thousand dollars, and they have no idea what it is.” He said he felt “guilty” because “I want to save money.” “So, I’m saying this is crazy,” he explained. “And it had another problem. They didn’t write well.” However, despite his preference for Sharpies, Trump said he couldn’t “have the pen the way it was.” TRUMP FIRES BACK AT REPORTER WHO QUESTIONED HIM ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS The president said he considered signing documents in a separate room, or “I could do like Biden did, you know, give it to somebody else to sign or an autopen. “This is when I called the guy. I said, ‘I’d like to use your pen, but I can’t have a grey thing with a big ‘S’ on it saying ‘Sharpie’ as I’m signing a trillion-dollar airplane contract to buy brand-new fighter jets – brand new B-2 bombers, of which we just ordered plenty. I can’t do that with the press, use your pen, but I like the pen the best.” According to Trump, a Sharpie representative then said, “Well, I could make it nicer.” “I said, ‘What can you do?’ He said, ‘I’ll paint it black.’ I said, ‘That’s nice,’” Trump related. TRUMP SPEAKS OUT ON IRAN’S EXECUTION OF 19-YEAR-OLD WRESTLER SALEH MOHAMMADI The president said the representative even offered to paint the White House and Trump’s signature on it “in gold, almost real gold, not bad.” After relating the story, Trump noted, “By the way, this was not staged.” “I just saw the pen sit there; I thought that this is an example of how $25 million spent by me at the Federal Reserve building would be a better job than the $4 billion that they’re spending.”
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Alleged fake diplomas, Black-only programs, illegal alien groping scandal
‘TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION’: University leader admits schools are ‘not a political party‘ in warning to elite campuses REALITY CHECK: Sheridan Gorman’s university newspaper touts ICE tracker after freshman allegedly murdered by illegal alien DEI DUST-UP: Los Angeles schools accused of quietly funding race-based programming for Black students only SIGN UP TO GET THE CAMPUS RADICALS NEWSLETTER ELITE FAILURE: Harvard student says Jewish classmates feel ‘unwelcome’ as multibillion-dollar DOJ lawsuit looms ABORTION EXPANDS: University of Oregon to offer abortion pills on campus this fall after student pressure campaign HIDING TRUTH: Michigan father sues school district after ‘no trespass’ order over pride flag video ‘CORRUPT’: California school district allegedly gave fraudulent diplomas to Chinese students to enter U.S. colleges HALLWAY HORROR: Mom of Virginia high schoolers where illegal alien allegedly groped girls outraged: ‘terrifying as a parent’ ‘REGRET’: Loyola student newspaper apologizes for calling suspected murderer of Sheridan Gorman an illegal immigrant
House GOP’s DHS funding measure survives critical hurdle but path uncertain in Senate
House Republicans’ gambit to end the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown survived a critical hurdle on Friday evening, teeing up a chamber-wide vote that will put the chamber on a collision course with the Senate. The House Rules Committee advanced a two-month DHS stopgap measure after House GOP leadership vigorously rejected a Senate-passed deal earlier on Friday with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dubbing the funding bill a “joke.” President Donald Trump also criticized the Senate bill in an interview with Fox News. The Senate deal provided full-year appropriations for DHS minus funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), halting roughly $5.5 billion for the agency. It also largely nixed funds for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), save for just over $11 billion for operations and support. “The Senate’s proposal is nothing more than unconditional surrender masquerading as a solution, and the House will not bend itself into submission by acquiescing,” House Rules Committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said Friday. DHS SHUTDOWN BREAKTHROUGH COMES AT COST FOR REPUBLICANS AS FUNDING FIGHTS NEARS END House Republicans are expected to have the votes to pass the 60-day CR in a chamber-wide vote, though Johnson will be able to spare just one GOP defection in a party-line scenario. A vote on final passage could occur as early as Friday evening. House Democrats are expected to line up against the short-term funding patch, citing their opposition to funding Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts absent myriad reforms. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is also pinning the blame on House Republicans for prolonging the 42-day government shutdown. “This could end and should end today,” Jeffries said Friday. “There is a bipartisan bill that has been sent over from the Senate that would reopen the non-controversial parts of the Department of Homeland Security, make sure TSA agents are paid and end the chaos at airports throughout the nation.” Any CR from the House stands no chance of surviving in the Senate, given that Senate Democrats blocked numerous attempts by Republicans throughout the shutdown to pass short-term, two-week extensions. Lawmakers in the upper chamber have also left Washington, D.C., with some going abroad on congressional delegations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., immediately came out against Johnson’s plan and said that Democrats and Republicans reached unanimous agreement to advance the DHS funding bill while carving out immigration enforcement funding. ‘SHIP HAS SAILED’: THIS IS WHAT DEMS WON’T GET IN DHS DEAL AFTER SHUNNING GOP “A 60-day CR that locks in the status-quo is dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it,” Schumer said. And a GOP aide told Fox News Digital that “the easiest way to end this shutdown is for the House to pass the Senate-passed bill.” “We know the Democrats are not going to support a CR, in fact the Senate tried to pass CRs for the last 40 days and Dems have blocked Every. Single. One,” they said. When asked about its uncertain prospects in the Senate, House GOP leadership Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich., told Fox News Digital that she hoped the upper chamber returned to Washington next week. “I will tell you what can’t pass is what is what the Senate sent us at three in the morning,” McClain said. “We will not go back to the Biden administration, where we had wide open borders.” Senate Republicans are already determined to front-load funding for ICE and CBP for the next several years in a new budget reconciliation bill, just as they did last year when Congress passed President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” However, McClain insisted Friday that funding for ICE and Border Patrol must be handled through the appropriations process, rather than receiving additional money through another party-line megabill. “Border deserves a guarantee. I’m not willing to roll the dice on ‘Oh, let’s try and do it in reconciliation.’ No. Let’s do what the American people sent us here in the ‘24 election to do, and that’s make sure our people are safe and our borders remain closed.”
Johnson accuses Democrats of taking government hostage over ‘crazy’ immigration agenda
House Speaker Mike Johnson chastised congressional Democrats Friday, saying Republicans will not be part of any effort to reopen America’s borders and stop the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants. Johnson held a two-hour conference call with House Republicans Friday, saying they were all “united” in the party’s position to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end the partial government shutdown that has injected chaos into air travel. “They have taken hostage the funding processes of government so that they can impose their radical agenda on the American people,” Johnson told reporters of Senate Democrats. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP EYES DHS DEAL FUNDING ICE PROBES, BUT NOT REMOVALS, AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS “The Senate Democrats have foisted upon this appropriations process their radical, crazy agenda,” he added. “We call it crazy because that’s what it is. They want to reopen the borders, and they want to stop the deportation of dangerous criminal illegal aliens. We have to do these basic functions of government.” On Friday, the Senate advanced a bill to fund much of DHS, except for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Border Patrol. “The only thing standing between ending this chaos or not are House Republicans,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. “There’s a bipartisan bill that emerged from the Senate with uniform support, and it should be brought to the floor immediately so we can pay TSA agents, so we can end the chaos at airports across the country and stop inconveniencing millions of Americans.” Democrats have refused to fully fund DHS unless Republicans agree to new restrictions on federal immigration authorities. JOHNSON TURNS UP HEAT ON SCHUMER AS DHS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON, AIRPORT DELAYS MOUNT “This gambit that was done last night is a joke,” Johnson said of the bill. “It is unconscionable to me that the Democrats would force some sort of negotiation at three o’clock in the morning and try to hoist this upon the American people and then get on their jets and go home for their holiday and pretend and think that we’re going to go along with that.” Lawmakers have come under increased pressure to strike a deal to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents after many have resigned and lines at airports across the country have swelled daily because of staffing issues. On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pay TSA agents despite Congress having not appropriated the funds for it. Johnson said Republicans will put forward a continuing resolution for all agencies under DHS to keep operating at their current funding levels. “The reason that we can’t accept this ridiculousness is because we’re not going to risk not funding the agencies that keep the American people safe,” he said. The shutdown began in February, weeks after federal agents shot and killed two people in separate incidents during immigration raids in Minnesota. Democrats have demanded changes to ICE and DHS and have refused to fund the agencies.