House GOP leaders eye bipartisan path for spending package

Speaker Mike Johnson told House Republicans on a private call Friday night he intends to hold a vote on a sprawling funding package by Monday evening. Leaders are likely to pursue a bipartisan path for passage, he said, rather than relying on the thin GOP majority to approve it.

The planned vote would end a partial government shutdown after more than two days. The Senate passed the package Friday night, just ahead of a midnight shutdown deadline, but the House has been in recess this week and is not scheduled to reconvene until Monday.

The vote would happen Monday by 6:30 p.m., Johnson said, according to four people granted anonymity to describe his private remarks. He added he intended to pass it however he could, the people said, but indicated the likeliest route would be bringing it up under suspension of the rules, a fast-track process that requires a two-thirds majority — and hence a significant chunk of Democratic votes.

The suspension path would avoid a potentially tricky party-line procedural vote, with many conservative hard-liners raising objections to reopening a Homeland Security funding deal — as the Senate bill would do. The House Rules Committee had planned to meet Sunday night and hasn't yet notified members those plans had changed, but Republicans say it is likely.

House Democrats have been wary of providing any support for the Department of Homeland Security amid President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement surge, and it could be difficult for party leaders to summon the scores of votes needed to pass the deal, which was negotiated between Senate Democrats and the White House.

The agreement splits off DHS funding from the larger package but still funds the department for two more weeks, allowing time for negotiations on new enforcement restrictions.

A spokesperson for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries indicated there was no agreement between Democratic and Republican leaders about providing votes for the funding bill. The caucus is likely to be sharply divided on the question, many Democrats say privately. Just over half of Senate Democratic Caucus members — 24 of 47 — voted against the package Friday, most over the DHS funding.

House Democrats are expected to hold a Sunday evening caucus call to discuss the vote, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the plan ahead of a formal announcement.

Jeffries has been publicly aligned with Senate Democratic leaders on a push for stronger warrant requirements, banning agents from wearing masks and requiring them to use body cameras. He said in a statement Friday that House Democrats would "evaluate the spending legislation passed by the Senate on its merits and then decide how to proceed legislatively."

He called on the Trump administration to "set forth an ironclad path that dramatically reforms ICE and other DHS agencies that the American people know have become lawless and heavy-handed" and said it would "in the best interest of the country that this is done before the Congress reconvenes on Monday evening."

Johnson on the call emphasized that Trump supports the deal, and the House needs to pass it. GOP leaders also pressed members to get into Washington as soon as Sunday night.