Some Republicans Threaten to Vote Against Government Funding Over Border Crisis

Rep. Bob Goods (R-Va.) speaks during a news conference with the House Freedom Caucus on the debt limit negotiations at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on March 10, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

A number of Republicans—all members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus—have threatened to vote against a government funding measures if a recent spending deal between Democrat and GOP leadership doesn’t include provisions to tighten border security.

“Shut down the border or shut down the government,” Rep. Eli Crane (R-Az.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, wrote in a post on X on Monday, a day after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced a deal on top-line spending numbers that the speaker hailed as a key step in averting a looming government shutdown.

Mr. Johnson touted the deal in a “Dear Colleague” letter that said “hard-fought concessions” have been secured from Democrats, including an additional $16 billion in spending cuts over the previously negotiated framework and a $30 billion overall reduction compared to the Senate’s original spending plan.

The agreement would clear the way for the Appropriations Committee to start negotiating the twelve annual appropriations bills that will allow the government to keep functioning.

But Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), another member of the House Freedom Caucus, urged his fellow Republicans in a “Dear Colleague” letter of his own last week to “use the power of the purse” to ensure that government funding is tied to border security.

“We must make funding for federal government operations contingent on the President signing H.R. 2, or its functional equivalent, into law and stopping the flow across our border,” Mr. Roy wrote.

He, too, reacted critically to Mr. Johnson’s announcement of a deal on top-line spending numbers because it was not conditional on border security measures.

“I have zero interest in funding a Biden Administration actively removing our national borders,” Mr. Roy said in a post on X, adding in another post that government funding should be contingent on the president signing H.R. 2 or its equivalent.

Border Security Or Government Shutdown?

H.R. 2, which has been a non-starter for Democrats (the White House said President Joe Biden would veto it), is a sweeping bill that would sharply restrict the asylum process, require a verification of the millions of illegal immigrants now residing in the country, and resume construction of the Trump-era border wall.

In response to the growing border crisis, House Republicans passed H.R. 2—dubbed the “Secure the Border Act”—in June 2023 amid the expiration of Title 42, which allowed for the rapid expulsion of illegal aliens from the United States on public health grounds. The measure passed along party lines but was dead on arrival in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

“H.R. 2 does nothing to address the root causes of migration, reduces humanitarian protections, and restricts lawful pathways, which are critical alternatives to unlawful entry,” the Office of Management and Budget said on May 8 in a statement of administration policy.

Negotiations in the Senate to find a compromise alternative to H.R. 2 have slowed to a crawl, while Republicans continue to raise the alarm on border security.

“The crisis at our southern border has deteriorated to such an extent that significant action can wait no longer. It must start now, and it must start with you,” Mr. Johnson urged President Joe Biden in a Dec. 21 letter.

The speaker called for measures like ending the Biden administration’s controversial “catch-and-release” policy, expanding expedited removals, renewing border wall construction, and reinstating the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy.

Illegal Immigration Crisis

A recent report from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows that the number of non-detained illegal immigrants inside the United States has now exceeded 6 million, up from just over 3 million in 2020, former President Donald Trump’s final year in office.

Also, the total number of known illegal southern border crossings has jumped from around 405,000 in 2020 to 2.1 million in 2023.

Nationwide, the number of illegal immigrant encounters has more than tripled over that period—from 647,000 in President Trump’s final year in office to 3.2 million in President Biden’s third year in the White House.

“All of this is the direct result of your administration’s policies,” Mr. Johnson charged in the letter to President Biden. “You have clearly undermined America’s sovereignty and security by ending the Remain in Mexico policy, reinstating catch-and-release, suspending asylum cooperative agreements with other nations, ignoring existing restraints on the abuse of parole, and halting border wall construction.”

Democrats have said they welcome Republican efforts to enhance border security, but they insist it should be as part of a broader package of immigration reform. So far, however, efforts at immigration reform have faltered in Congress.

In 2021, President Biden proposed an immigration bill titled the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which immediately sparked disagreements over controversial provisions like pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants, including for so-called DREAMers, which some Republicans panned as “mass amnesty” and “far more radical” than prior efforts.

Amid the continued influx of illegal immigrants into the country, Republicans continue to push for border security, with House Freedom Caucus members being among the most vocal.

“Republicans agreeing to spending levels $69 billion higher than last summer’s debt ceiling ‘deal’, with no significant policy wins is nothing but another loss for America,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the new chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said in a post on X on the day Mr. Johnson announced the new deal.

“At some point, having the House majority has to matter,” Mr. Good continued.  “Stop funding this spending with an open border!”

Spending Deal

Mr. Johnson’s announced deal suggests a top-line figure of $1.590 trillion for fiscal year 2024.

That figure, which is in line with the statutory requirements of the Fiscal Responsibility Act that was passed last year, includes $886 billion for defense and $704 billion for non-defense expenditures.

Unlike some of the GOP members of the House Freedom Caucus, Democrats were quick to praise the tentative agreement.

In a joint statement, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that the top-line agreement “clears the way for Congress to act over the next few weeks in order to maintain important funding priorities for the American people and avoid a government shutdown.”

They said that the non-defense funding provided by the deal would allow them to “protect key domestic priorities like veterans benefits, health care and nutrition assistance from the draconian cuts sought by right-wing extremists.”

The White House also praised the agreement, saying it “moves us one step closer to preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities.”

President Joe Biden wrote, “Now, congressional Republicans must do their job, stop threatening to shut down the government and fulfill their basic responsibility to fund critical domestic and national security priorities, including my supplemental request. It’s time for them to act.”

Under a stopgap spending bill put forward by Mr. Johnson last year, which passed the House with 93 Republicans and two Democrats opposing it, the U.S. will go into a partial government shutdown on Jan. 19 if spending bills are not agreed to.

Joseph Lord contributed to this report.