Rep. Ro Khanna says he's a 'firm no' on reopening the government because of ICE
- - Rep. Ro Khanna says he's a 'firm no' on reopening the government because of ICE
Alexandra MarquezFebruary 1, 2026 at 7:56 AM
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Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., on Sunday called on House Democrats to vote against a measure that would reopen parts of the federal government Monday, saying a vote in favor would support the tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“I’m a firm no, and I’m going to advocate with colleagues that they vote no,” Khanna told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” adding, “I just don’t see how, in good conscience, Democrats can vote for continuing ICE funding when they’re killing American citizens.”
Several federal agencies entered a partial government shutdown on Saturday, days after President Donald Trump and Senate Democrats reached a deal to avert an extended government shutdown.
The government shutdown wasn’t immediately halted because House lawmakers were out of town. But the House is expected to vote to reopen the government on Monday, barring any unexpected delays that could extend the shutdown, which currently affects the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Treasury, Transportation, Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development.
The deal between Trump and Senate Democrats funds all the affected agencies through September except the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement agencies including ICE and Customs and Border Protection. The bill passed by the Senate temporarily funds DHS for two weeks, giving both parties time to address Democratic concerns about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, which reached a fever pitch in recent weeks after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, on the streets of Minneapolis.
Khanna on Sunday called for lawmakers to separate ICE funding from other federal government spending, telling “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, “We can bracket the ICE funding. We can open the remaining parts of government. There are a lot of other parts of government that we can fund. The ICE issue should be separated.”
“And certainly I don’t think we can be giving a an additional dollar to an agency that is patrolling the streets of not just immigrants, [but] American citizens,” he added.
House Republicans are expected to vote in favor of the measure that passed the Senate, but the majority party’s margin has shrunk in recent weeks following the unexpected death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., and the resignation of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., last month.
Still, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Sunday expressed confidence that members of his party would vote to pass the Senate-passed bill this week after lawmakers get back to Washington.
“I’m confident that we’ll do it, at least by Tuesday,” he told “Meet the Press.”
He pointed to his party’s slim margin in the House, projecting confidence that every Republican lawmaker would vote in favor of the measure.
“One-vote margin, yes, for the rest of 2026,” Johnson told Welker, “but we’re going to demonstrate once again that this is the party that takes governing seriously.”
Source: “AOL Breaking”
