US House Republicans face gridlock in coming weeks

By Therese Boudreaux | center square

(meaningful news) – U.S. House Republicans face a daunting legislative agenda for the coming week.

The Department of Homeland Security has been closed for more than 70 days, but House Republicans are still refusing to vote on Senate-passed legislation to reopen it until they see more progress on immigration enforcement funding.

The Senate has already passed a budget resolution that lays out guidelines for a filibuster-proof budget reconciliation bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol for the next three years.

Once the House approves the budget proposal, lawmakers can begin drafting the actual reconciliation bill. Yet that approval is not certain, as some Republicans want to include other legislative priorities in the bill.

U.S. Reps. Jason Smith, R-Mo., Jody Arrington, R-Texas, and others have argued this could be the last chance for Republicans to push through partisan policies before a potential shift in the balance of power in Congress in November.

In an effort to prevent any more delays in ending the DHS shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other Republican leadership are prepared to advance a third reconciliation bill to accommodate those requests.

“We’re going to do it as quickly as possible,” Johnson said.

But the budget proposal isn’t the only bill Johnson will have to convince Republican holdouts to support next week — he’ll also have to win over them on reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The provision allows the federal government to collect electronic data on foreign actors of concern into a database and access that database without a warrant. However, metadata about Americans is often added to the mix, raising concerns about citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights.

Johnson’s recent efforts to reauthorize the provision failed dramatically in the House, with more than a dozen members of his party voting with Democrats for the proposed 18-month extension as well as the proposed five-year extension.

Despite the setback, the speaker has planned a three-year extension — without the warrant requirements that holdouts have demanded — up for consideration as soon as Monday. If some type of extension is not passed, FISA Section 702 is set to expire on April 30.

While all this is going on, the House will also begin consideration of the five-year Farm Bill, which is overdue and important legislation that supports programs and grants for farmers, rural communities, and American agriculture in general.

Additionally, the House Appropriations Committee will continue progress on 12 annual government funding bills for fiscal year 2027, which begins Oct. 1.

lift it up in prayer

14

People are praying right now.

latest lol news