GOP fumes as Trump gives Dems leverage on DHS funding: 'We shot ourselves in the foot'
Republicans in Congress expressed frustration at President Donald Trump after he gave Democrats leverage over Department of Homeland Security funding.
Fox News reported that Republicans were "quietly grumbling" over Trump's deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to keep the government open by only funding DHS through Feb. 13.
"Some Republican lawmakers are concerned that the plan will force them to swallow concessions on immigration enforcement policies that they would not normally entertain while the GOP holds all the levers of power in Washington, albeit with slim majorities," Fox News noted.
"I don't think we have any more leverage," one House Republican griped. "We just shot ourselves in the foot, and nine days later we'll do it again."
The deal comes after outrage over DHS officers shooting and killing two U.S. citizens in Minnesota.
"This is not my preferred route. I wanted to keep all six bills together," House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told Republicans last week. "But listen, the president agreed with Schumer that they would separate Homeland, and we'll do that, and we'll handle it."
Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) told Fox News that he was "concerned," but "hopeful that the president in the negotiations will hold firm, and hold strong."
"Whatever will come of that will be something that I probably won't be able to support," another House Republican said.
"How are we in a better negotiating position in two weeks? The only difference will be time," the GOP lawmaker explained. "At the end of the day, I'm worried that we're going to make a lot of concessions that we wouldn't normally make."
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