House Republicans lit up Speaker Mike Johnson on a private conference call Thursday, furious over his last-minute flip to back a Senate DHS funding plan that leaves ICE and Border Patrol without money.
The partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown hit 48 days Thursday, the longest in the agency’s history. The Senate advanced its funding bill again Thursday, but the House isn’t scheduled back in Washington until April 14, and leadership said there are no plans to cut the break short.
“People are mad at Johnson,” a source familiar with the call told Fox News Digital.
The fight centers on a Senate bill that funds most DHS operations but deliberately cuts out Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Senate leaders say ICE and CBP will get their money later through budget reconciliation. House conservatives aren’t buying it.
“Not happy,” one lawmaker told Fox News Digital. “Not willing to vote for anything that defunds law enforcement absent tangible action from Senate. Thune should call Senate back today.”
Johnson backed the two-track plan Wednesday after pressure from President Trump. That was a sharp reversal from his earlier stance, and it cost him with his conference.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday he didn’t know when the House would move. “I think this whole, where we are is just a regrettable place,” Thune said.
“Does feel like whiplash,” one House Republican told Fox News Digital.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., piled on, accusing House Republicans of owning the shutdown. “The deep division and dysfunction among House Republicans is needlessly extending the DHS shutdown and hurting federal workers who are missing another paycheck,” Schumer said.
Trump announced he’d bypass Congress entirely and pay DHS workers through an executive order. He posted on Truth Social that Democrats are “fully and 100% committed” to open borders and zero enforcement, and that the men and women at DHS have “suffered far too long at the hands of the Extreme Liberal ‘Leaders.'”
It’s the second time Trump has gone that route. Last week he issued a memorandum directing DHS to pay TSA agents out of existing funds, calling the situation an emergency compromising national security.
The House could pass the Senate bill under suspension of the rules, but that path requires a two-thirds majority. If Johnson needs Democratic votes to get there, his right flank won’t forget it.
