Jeffries warns Johnson not to count on Democrats' vote to avoid House shutdown

The Democratic Party is once again putting its partisan interests before preventing the suffering of millions of Americans from a government shutdown. That's how forceful the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, was in a telephone conversation with the speaker Mike Johnson. Jeffries warned that he would not count on the Democrats vote to move senate-approved measures, stating his party would oppose any stopgap extensions beyond 48 hours.

During their Saturday call, Jeffries explained to Johnson that many House Democrats strongly oppose funding ICE as long as mass raids continue, exposing a key division within the party. This was later confirmed by multiple Republican and Democratic sources to several media outlets. 

"Not another cent to ICE"

For example, left-leaning Texas Rep. Greg Casar was especially controversial in this regard: "not another cent to ICE until we stop the chaos and the lawlessness.. If this comes to the House, I will vote against it." His stance represents the House Progressive Caucus in the lower chamber.

The problem comes because the deal, which made it out of the Senate thanks to the vote of 23 Democratic congressmen, heavily criticized by Democratic radicals, includes interim funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which does not include measures to change or limit the way ICE or Customs and Border Protection operate.

The numbers don't add up for Johnson on the left ...or the right

Jeffries, who denied talking to the White House, warned that at this point it was difficult for Johnson to count on enough Democratic votes to get the two-thirds majority that would be required to pass the Senate proposals through the process known as suspension.

This would force the speaker to try to get all (or nearly all) of the conservative members to vote in favor of the government funding bill...something that also seems unrealistic given the serious objections already being raised by several lawmakers on the more conservative wing.

From the Republican wing, the Freedom Caucus announced it would oppose any cuts to ICE and Anna Paulina Luna is leading a group demanding Johnson tie funding to passage of the SAVE Act.