'Don't chop up your bills': House GOP torpedoes Senate DHS deal

WASHINGTON — The Senate may have done its part, but House Republicans made clear Thursday they will not rubber-stamp a Department of Homeland Security funding deal they say leaves agencies out in the cold that are tasked with immigration enforcement.

The Senate passed a $70 billion budget resolution to fund ICE and Border Patrol through reconciliation, the result of an overnight vote-a-rama, while a separate appropriations bill funding DHS other than ICE and Border Patrol stalls in the House. Hardline House Republicans have demanded funding for those two entities as well.

Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) warned that the partial funding approach is dead on arrival.

"People don't understand when you are going to cut out ICE and CBP, I don't think that is going to pass in the House because people are trying to run past that and talk about some reconciliation. But that is still an issue when you have zeros that zero out ICE and Border Patrol. That's an issue," said Self.

Self went further, pushing back on what he called a "skinny reconciliation" strategy, a move he said breaks apart appropriations bills in ways that undermine the process.

"That is not the way to do business. Don't chop up your appropriations bills," he said flatly.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) was more measured but equally pessimistic about a quick resolution, blaming Democratic obstruction for the gridlock.

"The House is trying to get consensus on it. It's just a tough, tough thing to do. Anything up here is hard, particularly as it relates to, you know, no Democrats helping on anything. The Senate did their job in a small way. We'll come to some agreement," Norman said.

DHS has faced a record-breaking partial shutdown as Senate Democrats have refused to fund the department unless major policy changes were made to immigration enforcement. Trump and Republican congressional leaders have blessed the two-part approach, making Self's resistance a direct challenge to his own party's leadership.

When Self was asked whether he was breaking with the president on the bill, he deflected with a pointed reminder of where power lives: "I am dealing with the House. The House is Article One. We are trying to figure this out in the House of Representatives."