GOP lawmakers blast Mike Johnson over new 'delay game' because he doesn't 'have the votes'

GOP lawmakers have slammed Speaker of the House Mike Johnson for delaying a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

The prolonged closure has left employees at the Transportation Security Administration and other DHS agencies without regular pay, creating significant operational challenges across the department. The core dispute centers on funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol operations.

Senate Democrats have signaled firm opposition to Republican proposals that would provide unrestricted resources to these agencies without substantive immigration reform provisions. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stated that a House Republican continuing resolution aimed at ending the shutdown would be "dead on arrival" in the chamber.

Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune eventually agreed to pass a bipartisan Senate funding bill that reopens the DHS agency without ICE or Border Patrol funding.

But Johnson is facing criticism from GOP figures for initially opposing a Senate plan to fund the DHS excluding ICE. A week after ridiculing the Senate funding plan, Johnson fell in line with President Donald Trump who endorsed the funding proposal.

An anonymous Republican Party member believes Johnson does not have the backing required to pass a bill that would include Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding. They told The Hill, "I don’t think Johnson has the votes. There continues to be a delay game.

"First it was Johnson said we want to see you pass the budget resolution. Now it sounds like, ‘We want to pass the whole reconciliation [package].' I don't think there's anything we can do."

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, added that this would likely be the final chance to address the funding issue.

Norman said, "This will probably be the last reconciliation we do before the end of the year. We got the break coming up, and it’s just we got to address — we got to put more to it than just this."

Senate Republicans voted yesterday (April 23) to allocate as much as $140 billion to ICE. The budget resolution was passed by a 50-48 vote. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has warned that payroll funding will be exhausted by early May if the shutdown continues.