‘A petition to defund the police’: Mike Johnson slams Democrats’ DHS plan excluding ICE, CBP

WASHINGTON, DC: Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday, March 17, dismissed a Democratic-backed proposal related to funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), intensifying an ongoing political standoff.

The disagreement has contributed to a prolonged shutdown affecting several federal agencies and workers. Both Republican and Democratic leaders have exchanged sharp criticism over proposed legislative actions intended to resolve the impasse.

Mike Johnson criticizes Hakeem Jeffries’ DHS funding proposal

Johnson dismissed the plan backed by Democratic Rep Hakeem Jeffries to fund agencies within the DHS other than Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), calling it an effort to “defund the police.”

Jeffries launched a discharge petition effort to try to force a vote on legislation to fund a large portion of DHS.

The proposal would provide funding for agencies including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Coast Guard.

Democrats have continued to seek reforms to immigration enforcement while refusing to fund ICE and CBP.

The discharge petition requires 218 signatures to force action, meaning Democrats would need support from several Republicans. Johnson said Republicans have already passed full DHS funding in the House multiple times without support from Democratic leaders.

“Now, instead of doing what’s right and putting an end to this charade, Democrats insist on tearing the bill apart piece by piece,” Johnson said. He added that “the discharge petition is really a petition to defund the police,” referring to law enforcement agencies within the DHS.

Johnson also accused Democrats of refusing to fund TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard “unless they can reopen our borders to illegal aliens.” His remarks echoed comments from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who earlier described the Democratic proposal as a “defund the police discharge.”

Scalise said, “One of the dumbest political ideas may be in the history of American politics, but the Democrats aren’t done with it, Now that you’re in another moment of Democrat-created chaos, what is their answer? To defund law enforcement again.”

DHS shutdown deepens as Hakeem Jeffries, White House push reforms

The DHS has now gone more than a month without funding as Democrats demand immigration reforms, making it the third-longest government shutdown in US history. The shutdown has forced many agency employees to continue working without pay.

According to a statement provided by the DHS to Business Insider, more than 300 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began, while callouts are approximately double the normal rate. The TSA also posted about the departures on X after workers received their first $0 paycheck during the shutdown.

As the situation worsens, the White House has offered concessions aimed at resolving the dispute. The administration proposed expanding the use of body-worn cameras for federal immigration enforcement agents and limiting enforcement activities at locations such as churches, schools, and hospitals.

These concessions were outlined in a letter sent to Senate Republican leaders by top administration officials regarding negotiations between the White House and congressional Democrats.

The letter stated that immigration enforcement would be limited at so-called “sensitive locations,” although it included a “narrow carve-out for immediate needs like national security, flight risks, and public safety.”

The administration also said federal agents would be required to identify themselves when requested, though undercover officers would not be subject to that requirement. Officials additionally promised not to deport or knowingly detain US citizens “except when the person violates a state or federal law that makes the citizen subject to arrest.”

Jeffries, however, said on March 16 that policy changes were necessary, “A change in personnel is not sufficient, We need a change in policy. We need dramatic, bold, meaningful and transformational changes, so that ICE conducts itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country.”