White House Urges Congress to End Recess, Resume DHS Talks (1)

The White House is urging Congress to cut its two-week recess short and return to Washington to continue negotiating the partial shutdown facing the Homeland Security Department.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that President Donald Trump wants the House and Senate to come back to fully fund DHS, as the shutdown drags on for more than six weeks.

“The president has stepped in to do the right thing at this moment in time, but the president is also encouraging Congress to come back to Washington, to permanently fix this problem and to fund and reopen the Department of Homeland Security entirely,” Leavitt said at her weekly briefing.

Leavitt didn’t say if the president has directly asked Republican leadership to come back to Washington, but added that Trump is teasing an Easter dinner for members if they cancel recess.

“He’ll host a big Easter Dinner here at the White House if Congress will come back and fight the Democrats on this issue,” Leavitt said.

The House passed a short-term funding measure last Friday that would fund DHS through May 22. The bill was passed in response to legislation approved by the Senate last week that would fund the entire agency except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, which is currently funded through a separate appropriation.

Immigration enforcement operations have been the sticking point in negotiations between the White House and Democrats, who are seeking sweeping changes after two Americans were shot dead by federal agents earlier this year.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called the stopgap bill pushed by senators a “joke” for excluding border security agencies.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) advised senators what to expect in terms of a potential return to Washington, according to a Senate GOP aide.

“Leader Thune told his colleagues this weekend that he wouldn’t bring them back to Washington if it was just for a show vote, however, he will bring them back if there is something to vote on that has the votes to pass,” the aide said.

Trump signed an executive order on Friday to start paying Transportation Security Administration agents, as some airports deal with hours-long waits and an exodus of agents quitting.

Leavitt said she hopes Trump can keep funding the salaries of agents, but pivoted blame to Democrats for forcing the president to step in.

“The president just can’t keep signing presidential memorandums and proclamations every time Congress fails to do its job or every time Democrats are holding our entire country hostage just because they don’t like this administration’s policies,” Leavitt said.