Happy Valentine's Day: Little love in the air as uncertainty swirls on the Hill

"We’ll have the votes," said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as the House approached a vote to end a three-day, partial government shutdown Tuesday morning. "That was never in doubt."

Oh really?

Well, Johnson was right. Republicans finally conjured up the votes to pass a retooled spending package to end the brief shutdown. Certainly better than the record 43-day shutdown in the fall.

But it wasn’t necessarily easy.

SHUTDOWN AVERTED FOR NOW, BUT SENATE WARNS DHS FIGHT COULD TRIGGER ANOTHER IN DAYS

Passing bills in the House is a challenge for Republicans with their narrow majority. What’s increasingly becoming even more problematic is a procedural vote known as the "rule." Adopting the rule to set the terms of debate is essential before bringing a bill to the floor. And conservatives who are upset with the GOP leadership are regularly converting what was a routine preliminary vote into a regular adventure.

"That’s where you’re going to see some friction," predicted Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., on Fox.

She was right. While there was drama passing the bill, the rule was a roller coaster.

GROUNDHOG DAY AND FRIDAY THE 13TH

Democrats said they would not help Republicans adopt the rule. They argued that the rule is the responsibility of the majority. It’s historically been that way in the House for decades.

"On rare occasion, have we stepped in to deal with Republican dysfunction," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

When the vote started, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was quick to vote no for the GOP.

It’s about the math. With the House at 218-214, Republicans could only adopt the rule with one defection if all Members voted. Two defections would produce a 216-216 tie. By rule, ties lose in the House.

Colleague Kelly Phares tracked the procedural vote from the House gallery. After a few moments, Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., became the second GOP nay. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., swooped in to converse with Rose. On X, Rose declared he wanted the GOP to attach the SAVE Act to the revised spending bill. Note that Rose is running against Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., for Tennessee governor. The SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship to vote. Latching such a provision to the bill would only prolong the shutdown. That’s because the House and Senate would remain out of alignment, having approved different bills. Moreover, there was no pathway to break a filibuster on the issue in the Senate.

So the rule was failing with two GOP nays and four Republicans who hadn’t voted yet: Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Byron Donalds, R-Fla., Troy Nehls, R-Texas and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind. The Republican brass would need all four nonvoters to switch to yes. Plus, they’d need Massie or Rose to change. The vote froze at 216 nays to 212 yeas.

If this blew up, the partial government shutdown would continue.

HOUSE SENDS BILL ENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN TO TRUMP'S DESK AFTER 21 DEMS BREAK WITH JEFFRIES

Donalds and Spartz then went up on the board as yeas. That made the tally 214 yeas to 216 noes. Nehls voted yea a few moments later. So 215 yeas to 216 noes. Massie and Rose remained the only Republican nays. And Ogles remained on the sidelines.

But then Rose changed his vote to yes. Ogles finally voted and was a yea. Rep. G.T. Thompson, R-Penn., presided over the vote. He rapped the gavel, closing the vote at 217-215. The House approved the rule, paving the way for the House to debate the spending plan and end the shutdown. Massie was the only GOP no.

Things were also tight on passage of the bill. The yeas ran behind the nays for most of the allotted time before barely passing at 217-214. 21 Republicans voted nay. But 21 Democrats voted yea, making up the difference. Had one more Member voted no, the tally would have been 216-215. The bill would have failed had an additional two Members voted no.

But with that, the second government shutdown since autumn ended.

"We have fully 96% of the federal government funded. So that's a that's a good win," bragged Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., more than four months after Congress was supposed to have funded everything.

But that remaining four percent is the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats demand changes at ICE before funding expires – on Valentine’s Day.

How do I love thee? Let me count the appropriations bills. 11 of the 12 are done. And unless lawmakers can craft an agreement, another shutdown looms, albeit just for DHS.

"A shutdown of Homeland Security. I'm okay with that," declared Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Penn.

A DHS-centric shutdown means no pay for TSA. And more volatility at ICE – even though its operations are funded through the Big, Beautiful Bill.

Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, had a message for DHS employees.

"You will be paid because this continues your pay. But the uncertainty – until we get this resolved – you must live with," warned Case.

PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENDS AS DHS FUNDING FIGHT CONTINUES

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. He’s one of 193 Democrats who opposed the bill.

"This is an opportunity to demonstrate your opposition," said Thompson.

But former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was one of those 21 Democrats who voted to re-open the government. He represents thousands of sidelined federal workers in his district not far from the nation’s capital.

"Today is a time to fund the majority of government for the American people," said Hoyer.

But negotiating an agreement on such a nettlesome issue in a week-and-a-half is nearly impossible in Congress. House and Senate Democrats will release their concrete demands Thursday. Republicans have their requests, too.

"I'm not willing to just give them every reform they ask for. Or even some without getting some reforms ourselves," said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

Some Republicans want an end to sanctuary cities. Others want to include the SAVE Act.

Republicans are suspect of the Democrats’ motives.

"If they have any intention of trying to keep these other agencies of government closed, it will be a fool's errand," said Johnson. "It's a very dangerous game that they're playing."

Jeffries declared he was a "hard no on a year-long CR (an interim spending plan)," for DHS. Jeffries reiterated that "the deadline is February 13th."

But is there realistically enough time to fix this?

"You can get to where you want to go if you have the will to get there," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the leading Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.

She added that there would be "a vote" of some sort related to DHS funding "on the 13th.

But time to get an agreement is dripping off the clock as Democrats still haven’t made specific, legislative requests.

"That’s an indication to me they’re trying to figure out what they need to do here," said Thune. "Trying to do this with a two-week deadline makes no sense here."

Thune added that he believes Democrats wanted to have a "political issue" for the midterms.

So Valentine’s Day is the deadline for DHS funding. There’s nothing more romantic than a partial government shutdown. But don’t expect lawmakers to give each other Dove chocolate bars or boxes of Russell Stover.

Rather than trading legislative proposals, perhaps lawmakers can exchange candy hearts with specific requests emblazoned on the top of each one. Rather than "Be mine" or "Hug me," the hearts can say "No roving patrols" or "Voter ID."