Providing for Disposition of Senate Amendment to H.R. Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the American people: If you woke up this morning not knowing who to blame for this shutdown, you will go to bed tonight with no doubt. It is House Republicans and Speaker Johnson. I mean, what the hell are you guys doing? This is nuts.

This is not complicated, Mr. Speaker. There is a bill right now, passed unanimously by the Republican-controlled Senate, to end this shutdown. It is a bill to fund FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard, and other lawful agencies in DHS. That bill was unanimously passed and was orchestrated by Republicans who control the United States Congress. You control the House, you control the Senate, and you control the White House. You control everything.

Republican Leader John Thune was the one who wrote it, scheduled it, offered it. The Republican was presiding over the Senate floor when the bill came up. Not a single Senator, including not a single Republican Senator, objected to moving this bill forward--not a single one.

That bill was sent to us today. What did Speaker Mike Johnson do? He said no. He said let's keep those airport lines long. He said let's not pay TSA or FEMA or the Coast Guard or CISA. Why? Because he would rather bow down to a handful of batshit crazy, rightwing lunatics who don't care about who they hurt. They are demanding even more money for ICE, an agency that already has a $75 billion slush fund--$75 billion. My God, that is more money than almost every nation on Earth spends on their entire military budget per year.

In what world does ICE need more money? Why would we give more money to an agency that a Federal judge says has violated more judicial orders this year than ``some Federal agencies have violated in their entire existence''?

We have seen ICE and CBP agents break into homes without warrants. I thought you guys cared about civil liberties. We have seen them arresting and detaining American citizens and publicly executing people on the street. None of you are moved by that?

Why the hell would we give them more money without real reforms? All we are saying is that we should fund agencies that actually protect the public and keep this country running.

The Senate passed a bill that does just that. It is ready for House floor action. We could end this shutdown for good tonight if Speaker Johnson would just put it on the floor. There is no question that it would pass with massive, sweeping bipartisan support. I have talked to so many of you who told me you support what the Republican Senate did.

Speaker Johnson refuses to do that. I swear, he is actually doing everything, and I mean everything, in his power to prevent reopening DHS tonight.

Republican leadership has even gone so far as to change the very definition of ``time'' itself. They had to rig the rules to pretend today is tomorrow so they could jam this garbage CR through faster and then get out of town.

This CR, Mr. Speaker, is a nonstarter. It is dead on arrival in the Senate. Even some House Republicans have already acknowledged that this plan, to quote them, is stupid. You know it is dead on arrival in the Senate.

Speaker Johnson needs to grow a freaking spine, and we need some adult leadership in this House.

Mr. Speaker, put the Senate bill on the floor. Let us pass it with a large majority of House votes. Let us end this Republican shutdown now.

Let us just restate for the record that ICE and CBP have billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars, years of funding. You can't bring yourself to help feed hungry children or make childcare more affordable or healthcare more affordable, but you have no problem with giving ICE, an agency that cannot follow the law, billions and billions of dollars. Shame on you. Your priorities are all screwed up.

First, Mr. Speaker, this bill does not defund ICE. There is like a gazillion dollars in the big, ugly bill, so that is just a lie.

The gentleman talked about what happened in this Chamber. I will tell you something that happened in this Chamber. The President of the United States sent an angry mob here to attack our democracy, and that gentleman said that it was a normal tourist visit. I won't ever forget that.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I just would like to respond by saying the American people know what is going on with the Republicans, and I trust their wisdom. That is why Republicans are the most unpopular party in the country, and the President's popularity has never been lower. They can't afford you. You don't know how to govern.

In fact, if the American people could, they would sue the Republicans for malpractice.

Everything is going up. Gas prices are up. Housing is up. Groceries are up. Everything is up. They can't afford you.

Enough of this. Enough of this.

Clark), our Democratic whip.

Mr. Speaker, let me just say I disagree with the true leader of the Republican Party, who I thought was Mike Johnson, but apparently, the gentlewoman corrected us; it is not. But let me just say the issue for us--first of all, let me say: ICE is being funded. Stop the BS. Stop the misinformation that somehow ICE is not being funded. Mr. Speaker, $85 billion, that is what they have.

That is what they have. The normal budget is $10 billion a year. It is $85 billion. Only Republicans would say that somehow that is not enough and that they are being defunded.

I will tell you the reason why we have concerns and are demanding reforms. It is because ICE is terrorizing communities and attacking people, including U.S. citizens. You should care about that.

A U.S. citizen went on his lunch break, and masked Federal agents detained him in a choke hold. Federal agents ripped a woman from her car as she screamed that she was a U.S. citizen. ICE agents in Minnesota ate lunch in a small-town Mexican restaurant. When they were done enjoying the meal, they detained the workers who served them.

In California, a U.S. citizen on his way to work at a food bank pulled over to warn Federal agents that they should wrap up their stop of another individual before school-age children gathered for the bus. Moments later, an ICE officer shot him in the back. You said nothing about that.

In Chicago, ICE agents stormed an apartment complex by helicopters as families slept and deployed chemical agents near a public school-- nothing from your side.

In Minnesota, ICE agents shot and killed Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, after she complied with agents' orders to move her vehicle away from the protest.

In Minnesota, two ICE agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen and a nurse, as he was exercising his constitutional rights.

Mr. Speaker, ICE is wreaking havoc on people all across this country, trampling over their constitutional rights. There was a time when you cared about the Constitution. U.S. citizens across this country are carrying their passports out of fear of being detained without cause. There are reports of Native Americans who are U.S. citizens being detained by ICE.

Thirty-two people died in ICE custody in 2025. It was ICE's deadliest year in two decades. In just the first 9 months of Trump's second term, over 170 U.S. citizens--U.S. citizens--were detained by ICE. Nearly 20 were children. Two dozen were held without being able to call a lawyer or their families.

Citizens are being dragged, tackled, beaten, and tased.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to the gentleman that he check with his staff. ICE has $85 billion.

Mr. Speaker, after listening to the gentleman, I didn't know that Senate Republicans voted to open the southern border. I mean, Ted Cruz voted to open the southern border? Boy, that is something. I don't know.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to urge that we defeat the previous question. If we do, I will offer an amendment to the rule to adopt the Senate amendment to H.R. 7147, the bipartisan compromise bill that the Senate unanimously passed this morning to fund all law-abiding agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.

This bipartisan--I know that is a tough word for some of you--but this bipartisan solution would make sure that TSA employees are paid, FEMA employees are paid, cybersecurity employees are paid, and our Coast Guard is paid.

If Speaker Johnson would just put the damn bill on the floor of the House for an up-or-down vote, we all know it would pass. That is what this motion does. It simply allows for a vote to adopt the compromise bill that just passed unanimously through the Republican-led Senate instead of a vote on this Republican, partisan, 2-month, crappy CR bill that we know will not become law.

Now is the time to stand up against far-right extremism and take the deal. Let's have a vote on the Senate bill.

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Mr. McGOVERN. DeLauro), ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, to discuss our proposal.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I would just say to the gentleman from North Carolina, his two Republican Senators, Messrs. Tillis and Budd, didn't seem to have a problem. Maybe he should call them.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want everybody to know the gentleman from West Virginia was saying ``hell no'' to paying TSA workers, FEMA workers, Coast Guard workers, and CISA workers. Shame on you.

By the way, if you have some complaints about this bill, the gentleman from West Virginia should write his two Senators, Justice and Capito, because they voted for this.

Mr. Speaker, I know the gentleman has a tough primary, but let me say, for the record, that none of us are hiding behind the big, ugly bill. We would not vote for a bill that cut Medicaid by a trillion dollars or cut SNAP by $200 billion. We certainly wouldn't vote for a bill that would provide multiyear funding for ICE.

That is just the reality. You did that, and so there is funding for ICE. I will just say to the gentleman that if he has a problem with this bill, he should check with Senator Cornyn, who is in the Republican leadership, and Senator Cruz who, by the way, I think you worked for.

Mr. Speaker, this debate has not changed the basic facts one bit. There is a bill that can pass the House. There is a bill that can become law. There is a bill that can end this shutdown. Speaker Johnson is refusing to bring it to the floor. That is the whole story.

Republicans can dress this up however they want. They can hold all the conference calls they want. They can play all the procedural games that they want. None of it changes the truth. This shutdown is continuing because the Republican Speaker of the House is too weak to stand up to the extremists running his conference.

While Republicans can't seem to face reality in Washington, people all over the country are living with the consequences: The TSA agent worried about rent; the Coast Guard spouse trying to stretch a paycheck that is not coming; the FEMA worker left hanging; the family stuck in chaos at the airport because this Republican Congress cannot do its job.

Now, let me be clear that those people are not pawns in some power struggle. They are not leverage. They are the people that we are supposed to serve, and, still, Republicans are failing them.

This CR isn't some serious answer. It is not. It is a joke. It is a joke. It is a plan to provide cover for a Speaker who knows exactly what needs to be done but does not have the guts to do it.

We all know the Senate bill is the exit ramp. So take it. Take it. Bring it up, pass it, and end this mess. That is what responsible people would do. That is what a real Speaker would do. That is what leadership is all about.

Tonight, if this shutdown continues, the American people should remember this moment. They should remember that the solution was sitting right here, ready to go, ready for a vote, and ready to pass. One man, Speaker Mike Johnson, said no.

Republicans, you own this. You own every delayed flight, every missed paycheck, every family under stress, and every hour of avoidable pain. This is a Republican shutdown. How dare you do this to the American people. People are tired of being jerked around. People are tired of being screwed over by your policies that favor the Epstein class at the expense of working people. Here we have a chance to help pay Federal workers, to keep our government running and Homeland Security, and you say no. You say no.

In the Senate it was a unanimous vote. Every Republican Senator went along with it. Not a single one of them objected. Even the most conservative right wing Senator did not object to it. Yet, that is not enough for you. That is not enough for you. Shame on you. Shame on this institution for not rising to the moment.

Mr. Speaker, I urge defeat of the previous question, and I urge a defeat of this rule. This is a lousy process. Shame on Republicans.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

A recorded vote was ordered.

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