House approves final spending bills as Democrats denounce ICE funding

House Passes Final Spending Bills as Shutdown Deadline Looms

The House of Representatives passed the year’s final batch of spending bills on Thursday, moving to avoid another government funding lapse as the January 30 deadline approaches. The package, totaling approximately $1.2 trillion, now moves to the Senate where final passage is needed next week.

Three of the four bills received strong bipartisan support, funding the Department of Defense and various other departments including Education, Transportation, and Health and Human Services. However, the fourth bill, which funds the Department of Homeland Security, became a flashpoint of controversy as Democrats raised concerns about President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies.

Despite Democratic opposition, Republicans successfully pushed the Homeland Security bill to passage with a 220-207 vote. The broader package, which includes a 3.8% pay raise for military personnel, passed by a more comfortable 341-88 margin.

House Democratic leadership formally announced their opposition to the Homeland Security funding bill prior to the vote. In a joint statement, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar criticized the administration’s deportation policies.

“Taxpayer dollars are being misused to brutalize U.S. citizens, including the tragic killing of Renee Nicole Good,” the Democratic leaders stated, referring to a mother of three who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in the Minneapolis area, where more than 2,000 officers have been deployed as part of recent immigration enforcement operations.

Democrats faced limited options in expressing opposition to the Homeland Security funding. Typically, a continuing resolution might be used to temporarily extend current funding levels during an impasse, but Representative Rosa DeLauro, top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, noted this would simply cede more Homeland Security spending decisions to the Trump administration.

There was also concern that failure to fund the department would harm disaster assistance programs and agencies like the Transportation Security Administration, while ICE and Customs and Border Protection operations would continue using funding from Trump’s recent tax cut and immigration legislation.

The approved Homeland Security bill maintains ICE annual spending at roughly the same level as the previous year. It also restricts the ability of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to unilaterally shift funding allocations. Additional oversight provisions include $20 million for body cameras for ICE and CBP officers during immigration enforcement operations and requirements for monthly updates on spending plans.

“It’s not everything we wanted. We wanted more oversight. But look, Democrats don’t control the House. We don’t control the Senate or the White House. But we were able to add some oversight over Homeland,” said Representative Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat and member of the Appropriations panel.

Republican lawmakers emphasized the national security aspects of the funding package. “This legislation delivers just that and upholds the America first agenda,” said Representative Tom Cole, Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Republicans also highlighted their success in avoiding a massive omnibus spending bill, which critics say often leads to greater federal spending. This year’s appropriations process, while a few months behind schedule, keeps non-defense spending just below current levels.

During floor debate, numerous Democratic lawmakers voiced strong opposition to the Homeland Security bill, focusing particularly on ICE’s rapid hiring of new deportation officers.

Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota claimed residents in her state were being racially profiled and removed from their communities. “Masked federal agents are seizing parents, yes, in front of terrified children,” McCollum said. “And many of these people we’re finding had no record and were here legally.”

Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York was even more direct: “I will not fund an agency that acts like an American gestapo.”

In response, Representative Cole criticized what he called “reckless” comments about ICE on the House floor, saying they “encourage people to believe that we have masses of bad actors in a particular agency.”

In a last-minute addition to the package, the House included a provision repealing senators’ ability to sue the government over collection of their cellphone data as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The provision, which had allowed for suits claiming up to $500,000 in damages, was unanimously blocked by the House after drawing criticism.