US House vote to stop partial government shutdown faces resistance

Republicans scramble for votes as Democrats oppose Senate deal tied to immigration enforcement funding

The US House vote to stop partial government shutdown is hanging in the balance as Republican leaders work to secure enough support to approve a funding measure aimed at ending the partial shutdown triggered last Saturday.

Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing to pass the measure today, Tuesday, February 3, but the path forward remains uncertain. Several Democrats oppose the agreement reached in the Senate, which allowed passage of most of the federal budget while extending funding for the Department of Homeland Security for only two weeks. The short-term extension is meant to allow negotiations over restrictions tied to the roughly $10 billion allocated to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The stalemate has made the US House vote to stop partial government shutdown particularly complex. Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has informed Johnson that Democrats will not help pass the full budget package unless additional limits are placed on immigration enforcement policies, according to sources cited by U.S. media.

Republicans hold a razor-thin majority of just five seats, meaning Johnson needs nearly unanimous backing from his party. The Speaker can afford to lose only two Republican votes if Democrats remain united in opposition. A key procedural test is expected in committee, where several members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus often vote against spending bills they consider excessive.

Resistance is already emerging inside the GOP. Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna has said she will vote against the measure unless it includes a requirement to show proof of U.S. citizenship to vote, adding another complication to the US House vote to stop partial government shutdown.

Meanwhile, Democratic members of the Homeland Security Committee have urged colleagues to reject the funding package, arguing that immigration enforcement agencies should not receive additional funding without policy changes. In a letter circulated among lawmakers, they called for “real changes” before ICE and Customs and Border Protection receive further federal funding.

With negotiations ongoing and party divisions deepening, the final outcome of the US House vote to stop partial government shutdown remains uncertain, raising the risk that the partial shutdown could continue if lawmakers fail to reach a compromise.

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