House to hold vote on funding, reopening federal government

Feb. 3 (UPI) — The House of Representatives will meet Tuesday to vote on funding measures to end the partial government shutdown.

The sticking point is funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats want reforms to hold Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol accountable.

The government has been partially shut down since Saturday, as lawmakers grapple with funding after two shooting deaths of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

The main funding package would cover the Departments of Defense, Labor, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Education, State and more through Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends. A separate funding bill would fund DHS through Feb. 13, giving Congress time to debate measures to create new oversight policies.

But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has said Democrats won’t support the temporary funding of DHS.

“Taxpayer dollars should be used to address the affordability crisis ravaging the country, not brutalize and kill American citizens,” Jeffries said in a statement on X. “The Trump administration must set forth an ironclad path that dramatically reforms ICE and other DHS agencies that the American people know have become lawless and heavy-handed.”

The House has a Republican majority by only one vote, so the bill could pass if all Republicans vote for it.

Some Republicans have said they won’t approve it because they don’t want to undermine ICE. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said she would oppose it unless it included the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. But she walked that back Tuesday morning, saying she would vote for it, CBS News reported.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., cited the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti for his opposition.

“I’m not voting to fund this agency for two seconds, let alone two weeks,” USA Today reported he said. “They are terrorizing our communities and acting like they’re above the law.”

President Donald Trump posted a call to end the shutdown on Truth Social.

“I am working hard with Speaker Johnson to get the current funding deal, which passed in the Senate last week, through the House and to my desk, where I will sign it into Law, IMMEDIATELY! We need to get the Government open, and I hope all Republicans and Democrats will join me in supporting this Bill, and send it to my desk WITHOUT DELAY. There can be NO CHANGES at this time. We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly — One that will not benefit Republicans or Democrats. I hope everyone will vote, YES!”