In a 213-203 vote, House Republicans on Friday rejected a bipartisan Department of Homeland Security funding deal passed by the Senate and instead approved their own measure, extending a shutdown that has now reached 42 days.
Lawmakers then left Washington for a two-week recess, leaving no immediate path to resolve the standoff. Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans advanced a plan to fund DHS for eight weeks, including money for border enforcement that was excluded from the Senate bill.
The move effectively blocks the Senate proposal and prolongs the shutdown, CNN reported.
The Senate measure, backed by both parties, would fund most of the department but does not include funding for immigration enforcement agencies. That omission became a key point of contention for House Republicans and President Donald Trump.
Republicans said the Senate should return from recess to take up the House bill. Trump has also moved to fund Transportation Security Administration workers through executive action during the shutdown.
The decision marks a sharp break between House and Senate Republicans, with Johnson directly challenging Senate Majority Leader John Thune. House GOP leaders said they were not part of the negotiations that produced the Senate agreement.
“This gambit that was done last night is a joke,” Johnson said, while placing blame on Senate Democrats. He later said he spoke with Thune before the House rejected the bill.
“I told him, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody that we would not be able to do that,” Johnson said. “We’re not going to split apart two of the most important agencies in the government and leave them hanging like that. We just couldn’t do it.”
House Republican leaders said they believe Trump supports their approach. Privately, some GOP lawmakers acknowledged the strategy could carry political risks, with no clear path to force Senate Democrats to accept the House version.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said frustration within the conference drove the decision to reject the Senate bill. “There is a common disgust from our leadership team and from our members about what they did over in the Senate,” Emmer said.
Johnson said he does not blame Thune directly and pointed instead to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for shaping the legislation. Senate Republicans, however, were involved in drafting the bill, which passed early Friday without a roll call vote.
By Friday afternoon, Trump publicly criticized the Senate measure. “You can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund ICE. You can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund any form of law enforcement,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus also opposed the Senate bill and called for additional provisions, including funding for border enforcement and voter ID measures. Rep. Andy Harris said any acceptable bill must include those priorities.
“The only thing we’re going to support is adding that funding into the bill, adding voter ID, sending it back to the Senate,” Harris said.
Some Republicans acknowledged concerns about the ongoing shutdown’s impact on travel and government operations. Rep. Jeff Van Drew said lawmakers must act to reopen the department.
“I mean, we’ve got to, for God’s sake, we’ve got to open this piece of government up,” Van Drew said.
Rep. Frank Lucas said the process is often slow and difficult. “We do it the hardest, most painful, most awkward, most drawn out miserable way, but eventually we get it done,” Lucas said.
House Democrats backed the Senate bill and argued it could pass immediately if brought forward. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the bipartisan measure remains the best path forward.
“Our position remains the same. There is a bipartisan bill that every single senator, Democrats and Republicans, supported, that has the votes to pass today,” Jeffries said.