GOP lawmaker rages at own party: 'Just gave the Democrats everything they wanted'

A MAGA-aligned Republican House member lashed out Friday at his own party after Senate Republicans caved to Democratic demands earlier that morning after voting to exclude federal immigration enforcement agencies from a major spending bill.

At around 3 a.m., and with just five members present, the Senate voted to advance a bill to fund all agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). DHS has been unfunded since February due to disputes over ICE and CBP’s often violent operations.

Lawmakers have faced increased pressure to fund DHS due to airport staffing shortages sparked by the funding lapse, but for Rep. Keith Self (R-TX), the decision of at least three Senate Republicans to allow for ICE and CBP to go unfunded was a betrayal to the party.

“In the dead of night, with only five senators present on the floor and no one there to object, the Senate rushed through a DHS funding bill that deliberately left ICE and CBP unfunded,” Self wrote Friday in a social media post on X. “Now, they are leaving town. No SAVE America Act. ICE and CBP unfunded. Senate Republicans just gave the Democrats everything they wanted and more.”

Self, 73, a second-term congressman from Texas, has faced repeated scrutiny throughout his political career, including for quoting Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels during a 2010 judicial campaign. He has also been criticized for anti-Islam remarks made on the House floor and online.