Johnson on DHS funding bill: “We threw a fit”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Thursday defended House Republicans’ long delay in approving a Homeland Security Department funding bill, saying it was first necessary to make progress on a reconciliation bill to separately fund ICE and Border Patrol.

“You heard me trash the bill when it came over the first time because it literally was drafted in the middle of the night. It was about 2 o’clock in the morning when they came up with the final language, and it was haphazardly drafted,” he told reporters, bemoaning that it would “orphan” the immigration agencies. “That’s absurd, and we threw a fit.”

House Republicans on Wednesday night approved the Senate-passed budget resolution, unlocking the reconciliation powers needed to craft a filibuster-proof bill funding ICE and CBP, which he said was needed before approving funding for the rest of the department.

“We had to ensure that they could not isolate and eliminate those two critical agencies,” he said. “We are getting those done now. We passed the resolution first.”

The speaker said Congress will approve the yet-to-be-crafted reconciliation bill when it returns from its two-week recess.

“We will fund Border Patrol and Immigration Enforcement as soon as we return for the work session when that bill is finalized,” he said.

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