DHS funding heads to House vote after Johnson quells GOP revolt over ethanol

Republicans set up a House-wide vote on a $1.2 trillion spending package on Thursday, including funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., worked overnight to quell a rebellion over Midwestern Republican energy demands.

The House Rules Committee voted 9-4 to advance two spending bills needed to avoid a government shutdown that is set to begin on Jan. 30. 

While a compromise appears to have eased concerns for GOP lawmakers in the Midwest, the DHS funding portion is still causing ire among progressives and conservatives alike over its measures on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

One bill would fund the departments of War, Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services, and the second is aimed at DHS — including ICE.

According to comments from lawmakers made to Fox News Digital, as many as 20 Republicans had threatened to kill the spending package during a key procedural vote later on Wednesday. They demanded the inclusion of a provision to allow the year-round sale of E15 ethanol, a type of gasoline blend. 

Under the current Clean Air Act, E15’s sales are limited due to failing to overcome Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.

Johnson, emerging from the Rules Committee early on Thursday, said he had reached an agreement with the would-be rebels.

“It’s a very positive development,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. 

“We decided among a good representation of the conference late last night that we would create the E15 Domestic Energy Council. It will be composed not just of members from across the conference with different views but also stakeholders — refiners, people in the industry.”

That council, Johnson also explained, would take a closer look at the demands made by Midwest Republicans and weigh them against the environmental protections the country has in place. He said he expected those talks to be a “worthwhile endeavor” but didn’t expand on what kind of resolution he expects to see. 

A source close to the matter told Fox News Digital that the agreement would mandate the working group meet regularly next month with the goal of recommending legislation by Feb. 25.

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The bill will next face a procedural vote known as a “rule vote,” when the entire House weighs whether to allow for debate and final consideration of a given measure or set of bills.

Rule votes traditionally fall along party lines even if the underlying bills have bipartisan support, meaning Johnson can afford to lose no more than two GOP votes and still advance the legislation.

If passed, the two separate spending packages will later be joined together for consideration in the Senate.

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Questions remain whether House GOP leadership will be able to unite Republicans around other aspects of the legislation, as concerns have emerged among conservatives about new requirements for ICE. Those provisions, demanded by Democrats, include requiring ICE agents to wear body cameras and undergo additional training on how to interact with the public.

It also keeps funding levels largely flat over levels from FY2025 and even reduces some of the allocations for ICE’s removal activities.

But that’s not enough for a significant number of Democrats. Many made it clear they won’t support the bill, claiming that the legislation doesn’t do enough to rein in ICE’s operations after Renee Nicole Good was killed in a fatal confrontation with ICE agents in Minnesota earlier this month.

“All the guardrails in the world don’t make sense if the administration isn’t going to follow the law and the language that we pass. Members have to take that into account,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said. “Ultimately, members are going to vote [for] what’s in the best interest of their districts.”

Democrats attempted to shoehorn left-wing priorities into the legislation during the House Rules Committee meeting, including measures targeting President Donald Trump’s agenda on Greenland, Venezuela and ICE.

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Among them are amendments to prevent any of the funding in the bill from being used to invade a NATO-protected country and a measure to prohibit federal funds from being used in military actions against Venezuela after Trump executed a military operation to capture the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

Amendments to the DHS bill also sought to reduce the salary of Secretary Kristi Noem to $1 or eliminate the funding of the agency altogether.

Those amendments were largely symbolic protests, however, and were not included in the final bill.