WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the early hours Thursday morning, the Senate moved forward with a plan to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. DHS has been shut down since mid- February after Democrats have called for more reforms for ICE and Border Patrol.
The vote 50-48 vote follows weeks of a funding deadlock for the Department which has been heavily scrutinized for their immigration and enforcement tactics in cities across the US. Republicans are using the process known as reconciliation which only requires a simple majority in the Senate, bypassing their filibuster rules. Through this process, Senate Republicans, who hold a small majority, would not need any Democratic support to pass. It was a route Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R- SD) said he was forced to take.
“The White House made reforms, we offered up reforms, and they kept moving the goalposts, walking away from it,” said Sen. Thune. “It became very clear that their base had convinced them that the only thing to do is to defund the police and to go back to the Biden open borders policy. That is effectively what this is all about. Republicans are not going to allow that to happen, which is why we have been forced by the Democrats to use the reconciliation process to see that these two important agencies are funded.”
During this vote-a-rama, Democrats tried to add amendments aimed at addressing the cost of living crisis. Political experts said Democrats took the opportunity to criticize Republicans for funding immigration enforcement over affordability for Americans.
“We gave Republicans a chance to vote for an amendment to lower out of pocket healthcare costs; they said no,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D- NY), Senate Minority Leader. “We gave Republicans a chance to lower childcare costs. They said no. We gave Republicans a chance to stop insurance company delays, to protect school meals, to give people a hand at the grocery store, and Republicans said no, no, and no again. What kind of bubble are they living in?”
The funding measure now heads to the House.
