House Speaker Mike Johnson is inching closer to hard red lines on future negotiations over the Department of Homeland Security.
- "They sent us a bill that literally put the number zero in the bill for the funding of border security and customs and immigration enforcement. We can't do that," Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday on Fox News.
- At the same time, President Trump is weighing whether to use a rare constitutional power to force Congress to return next week, he told the New York Post on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Senate Republicans have already yielded to Dems' shutdown hostage taking on ICE funding, and Trump — who's been all over the place — weakened the GOP's leverage by paying TSA.
- But Johnson is rejecting bipartisan paths while he bets on a GOP-only solution to fund the department.
- The speaker has staked out the position that GOP leaders won't help pass a deal that doesn't fund ICE and Customs and Border Patrol.
- Democrats won't fund immigration enforcement without reforms, and those reforms aren't acceptable to GOP hardliners in the House.
Zoom in: GOP leaders could keep negotiating with Democrats on ICE and CBP funding, but talks have gone nowhere for six weeks.
- They could also try using the reconciliation process to bypass the Senate's 60-vote threshold, but that would take time they don't have.
- "The Senate has to do [its] job and help us on this heavy lift," Johnson told Fox News on Tuesday.
Between the lines: A Democratic-led discharge petition to fund DHS without ICE and CBP is unlikely to win GOP support right now, but getting 218 signatures is always a concern for GOP leaders because of the tight margins, a leadership aide told Axios.
- Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) told Axios he doubts any Republicans would sign on, saying the agency needs to be fully funded.
The intrigue: Problem Solvers co-chairs Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) are floating a bill to fully fund DHS with ICE reforms, including limits on masking and new warrant requirements.
- Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told Axios on Tuesday he plans to support it, noting he won't back a bill that doesn't fully fund the department.
- GOP leadership hasn't weighed in on the proposal.
