House GOP would rather shut down the government than fix the border

Republicans are so intent on creating more chaos at the border that they’re risking another partial government shutdown. There’s agreement on five of the six funding bills that need to pass by Friday in order to avert a shutdown, but the House GOP’s refusal to adequately fund the Department of Homeland Security threatens everything.

“Republicans want to underfund DHS, which makes the border less secure and the country less safe,” a White House official told Politico Sunday. Republicans are trying to “sow chaos on the border ahead of November,” the official said. That definitely seems to be the strategy.

House Republicans pushed for a continuing resolution for the rest of the year for Homeland Security, which would have effectively been a cut to the department. It would continue funding at 2023 levels, and not account for inflation. Democrats offered an additional $1.56 billion in additional funding to secure the border, according to Politico, but Republicans rejected that offer.

Top-level White House staff reportedly “made it clear” to House Speaker Mike Johnson that his proposed funding levels would cripple border security. 

“This means less agents to secure our border, less officers to protect the traveling public, less people to go after drug traffickers than today, less detention beds than today, as well as diminished capacity to respond to disasters, cybersecurity incidents and national security threats,” one official told Politico.

While the border stalemate continues, the odds of a shutdown increase due to time constraints.