Category: Politics

WASHINGTON — Republicans invoked the war in Iran and the prospect of retaliatory terrorist attacks as they made another unsuccessful effort Thursday to pass a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security.

Democrats are insisting on changes to immigration enforcement operations as part of the measure and blocked it from advancing. The procedural vote was 51-45, falling well short of the 60 that Republicans needed to proceed with the measure. While the House will also take up the bill Thursday, that outcome will be more about putting lawmakers on the record about where they stand.

In the end, a bipartisan compromise will have to be reached to end a DHS shutdown that began Feb. 14.

The funding bill first passed the House back in January, but it has gone nowhere in the Senate as Democrats seek new restraints on immigration enforcement tactics following the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis.

Republicans have called on Democrats to reconsider their vote in the wake of the conflict in Iran.

Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said Democrats would bear responsibility for the next cyberattack that is missed or the next “lone wolf terrorist” who attacks in the U.S.

“Blood will be on their hands,” Barrasso said on the Senate floor. “Because we don’t have a functioning Department of Homeland Security that is funded with people on the ground in every position receiving their paychecks.”

It did not appear the GOP’s strategy had changed the position of Democratic lawmakers, though. They said they are prepared to fund most of the agencies at the department, just not Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection.

“It’s the same lousy, rotten bill that does not put any guardrails or constraints on ICE or CBP after federal agents shot American citizens in the street,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D., Mass.) said.

Moments before the vote, senators were getting word that President Donald Trump had just fired DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The news did not change Democrats’ resolve to force operational changes within the department through the spending bill.

“Good riddance,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. “But the problems at ICE transcend any one individual.”

Workers are beginning to miss part of their paychecks

Following the longest federal shutdown in the country’s history last year, Congress has completed work on 11 of this year’s 12 appropriations bills. Only the bill for Homeland Security remains outstanding.

Republicans said the timing couldn’t be worse for a Homeland Security shutdown. While a large majority of the department’s employees are considered essential and continue to work, many will not receive a full paycheck this week.

“Like Democrats’ first shutdown a few months ago, this shutdown is causing a lot of financial stress, uncertainty, and pain for hardworking Americans,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. “It’s also making it harder for those working to keep America safe.”

Republicans said the prospect of an increase in unscheduled absences by the Transportation Security Administration’s agents could lead to longer wait times at the nation’s airports. Meanwhile, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has canceled various assessments to determine vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure. And training for first responders conducted through the Federal Emergency Management Agency was canceled.

Democrats are seeking several changes at the department that include prohibiting ICE enforcement operations at sensitive locations like schools and churches, allowing independent investigations into alleged wrongdoing, requiring warrants to be signed by judges before federal agents can forcibly enter private homes or other nonpublic spaces without consent, and requiring agents to wear identification and remove their masks.

Republicans note that the bill does include a bipartisan provision directing more resources for de-escalation training and $20 million to outfit immigration enforcement agents with body-worn cameras.

Little to show from negotiations

The White House and congressional Democrats don’t appear to have made significant progress in recent weeks in resolving their differences after trading several offers.

“Look, we’re still far apart, but we’re negotiating and exchanging paper back and forth,” Schumer said.

The size of the divide appeared significant during Thursday’s debate on the Senate floor.

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt said that through their actions, Democrats were “still the party of open borders, they are still the party of defund the police, now actually more than ever.”

She and other Republicans also cited last weekend’s mass shooting in Austin, Texas, as an example of the dangerous threat environment that’s facing Americans following the attack on Iran.

“We know this couldn’t come at a more dangerous time.,” Britt said.

Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that Democrats were simply working to make sure federal immigration officials follow the same standards as other law enforcement officers.

“We are not asking for the moon. We are asking for basic steps to protect Americans’ constitutional rights and their safety,” Murray said.

WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas said late Thursday he was withdrawing from his reelection race, after having admitted an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide, but he vowed to finish out his term in Congress.

He had faced calls from GOP leadership to end his reelection bid, and from others in Congress to resign.

“After deep reflection and with the support of my loving family, I have decided not to seek re-election,” Gonzales said in a statement posted late Thursday to X.

The move is the latest in a quickly changing situation that stunned Capitol Hill and resulted in a House Ethics Committee investigation into his conduct. Gonzales’ decision to bow out of the race appears to clear the field. On Tuesday, he had been forced into a May runoff against Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and YouTube gun-rights influencer who narrowly lost to him in the 2024 primary.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP leadership earlier Thursday had called on Gonzales to withdraw from reelection after Gonzales, a day earlier, acknowledged a relationship that has upturned the political world in his home state and in Washington.

“We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues,” said Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Whip Tom Emmer, and GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain in a statement.

“In the meantime, Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for reelection.”

Johnson, R-La., has been under enormous pressure from his own GOP lawmakers to take action, and several Republicans have already called for Gonzales to step aside. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., has introduced two resolutions to punish Gonzales. The first seeks to remove him from his assignments on the House Appropriations and Homeland Security committees, while the second seeks to censure him.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, meanwhile, said he would support expelling Gonzales from the House, a rare step that requires a two-thirds vote from the chamber.

GOP leaders notably did not call for Gonzales to resign from office as they struggle to maintain their slim majority in the House, which they hold by only a handful of seats.

Their move came after Gonzales, appearing on the “Joe Pags Show,” was asked whether he had a relationship with the aide, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles.

Santos-Aviles, 35, died after setting herself on fire in the backyard of her home in Uvalde, Texas. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled her death a suicide.

“I made a mistake and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales said.

The congressman, now in his third term, had said he would not step down in response to the allegations, telling reporters recently that there will be opportunities for all the details and facts to come out.

Gonzales, a father of six, first won his seat in 2020 after retiring from a 20-year career in the Navy that included time in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the interview broadcast Wednesday, Gonzales said he had not spoken to Santos-Aviles since June 2024. She died in September 2025.

“I had absolutely nothing to do with her tragic passing, and in fact, I was shocked just as much as everyone else,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales went on to say he had reconciled with his wife, Angel, and has asked God to forgive him. He also said he looked forward to the Ethics Committee investigation.

Johnson and GOP leadership urged that committee to “act expeditiously.”

Under House ethics rules, lawmakers may not engage in a sexual relationship with any employee of the House under their supervision.