The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Friday to pass a major funding package consisting of five regular appropriations bills and a two-week stopgap measure for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The 71-29 vote caps a week of Senate drama after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, sparking a public backlash against the tactics of federal immigration enforcement officers and pushing Democrats to oppose the DHS funding bill that was part of a six-bill funding package.
The House returns today to Washington, where lawmakers will seek to end the partial government shutdown that began over the weekend. The lower chamber’s Republican leaders face an uphill battle as they work to get the funding package across the finish line as Democrats have said they will not support the measure. GOP lawmakers are fighting over what reforms to make to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies after two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers and remain far apart on a compromise. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) hoped to vote on the funding bills on Monday when the House returns under suspension of the rules, which would have required a two-thirds majority. However, Speaker Johnson will now have to first pass the package through the House Rules Committee before it can be taken to the floor for a vote so Republicans can attempt to pass the package with a simple majority. The committee announced Saturday that a markup on the Senate-passed funding package is set for Monday at 4 p.m. — the first of several steps before the package can receive a full vote on the House floor. It is unclear if Speaker Johnson has the necessary GOP support to advance the package given his slim majority.
When the Senate reconvenes at 3:00 P.M. it will take up a Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #610 David Clay Fowlkes, of Arkansas, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas.
The House met at 9:00 A.M. and will take up six bills Under Suspension of the Rules including H.R. 3497 – Medal of Sacrifice Act, as amended.
