(AFP) – The US House of Representatives passed a spending bill on Tuesday, ending the four-day partial government shutdown sparked by Democratic opposition to funding for the federal agency carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Trump is expected to swiftly sign the legislation, which was passed by a 217-214 vote in the Republican-controlled House.
Twenty-one Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the funding package, and an equal number of Republicans opposed it rather than meet Democratic demands to reform the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Negotiations for new money for DHS broke down following the killing of two US citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis, the Minnesota city that has become the flashpoint for the Republican president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
On Friday, the Senate passed a package clearing five outstanding funding bills to cover most federal agencies through September, along with a two-week stopgap measure to keep DHS operating while lawmakers negotiate immigration enforcement policy. Trump has been pressuring Republicans to adopt the spending bill and end the shutdown. “We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly,” Trump said in a Truth Social post in reference to a record 43-day closure last summer.
– Body cameras –
Democrats in the House had demanded changes to the way DHS conducts its immigration sweeps — with heavily armed, masked, and unidentified agents who sometimes detain people without warrants — before voting on the spending package. Some concessions have already been made amid Democratic pressure and national outcry after agents shot and killed Renee Good, a mother of three, and Alex Pretti, a nurse who worked with military veterans, in Minneapolis last month.
On Monday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said federal agents in the city would wear body cameras “effective immediately,” in a move that would be later “expanded nationwide.” Lawmakers now have just two weeks to negotiate a full-year DHS funding bill. Both parties acknowledge the talks will be politically fraught as Democrats demand new guardrails on immigration enforcement and conservatives push their own policy priorities.
Shutdowns temporarily freeze funding for non-essential federal operations, forcing agencies to halt services, place workers on unpaid leave, or require them to work without pay.
– Robin LEGRAND
© 2024 AFP
