By Jerald Jimenez
The US House of Representatives, under a Republican majority, passed a bipartisan bill intended to finance the agencies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The measure seeks to reactivate the operations of the Secret Service and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which have faced a partial closure for almost 11 weeks, and was approved by voice vote, so it was sent to President Donald Trump for his final signature, Reuters reported.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, along with Republican leadership, decided to process the bill as passed by the Senate, which avoids introducing modifications requested by conservative sectors that demanded changes in the allocation clauses.
Previous resistance was because the usual language prohibits the use of these specific funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol.
Prior budget approval
To address these objections, Republicans on Wednesday approved a proposed $70 billion supplemental budget. The amount will be used exclusively to finance ICE and the Border Patrol, thus allowing the advancement of the usual DHS funding law.
Pressure to approve these funds increased after the assassination attempt against President Trump during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last Saturday. Likewise, the budget office warned that agencies such as the Coast Guard and FEMA would run out of resources to pay salaries in May.
“We weren’t going to have lines at the TSA. Now everyone will receive their salary”declared Mike Johnson before the press.
Future budget strategy
The approval of this resolution allows independent legislation to be drafted for immigration alter agencies.
“We held back the national security bill, the underlying funding bill, because we had to make sure that they couldn’t isolate and eliminate those two crucial agencies. We’re working on that now,” Johnson said.
It is expected that Congress uses the “budget reconciliation” procedure in May to secure additional funding for ICE and Border Patrol, avoiding opposition in the Senate.
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