Texas Republican ties US homeland security funding to border demands
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[August 09, 2023]
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A prominent hardline conservative from Texas
urged his fellow Republicans in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday to withhold
funding from the Department of Homeland Security unless President Joe
Biden takes a series of controversial steps involving U.S.-Mexico border
policy.
Representative Chip Roy, a leading member of the House Freedom Caucus,
laid out his demands in a letter to colleagues that called for the
ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and a $10
billion payment to compensate Texas for unilateral border actions by
Governor Greg Abbott.
Roy's demands, which are unlikely to be embraced by Biden or the
Democratic-led Senate, could further complicate a spending challenge for
Republicans in the House of Representatives, where infighting over
government funding between party hardliners and centrists has stalled
action on fiscal 2024 appropriations bills.
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"No appropriation should fund DHS until the necessary steps are taken to
secure the border," Roy said in his letter.
Among Roy's demands is enactment of a Republican border bill that would
reinstate some policies of former President Donald Trump, greatly
restrict access to asylum and give the Homeland Security secretary
sweeping powers to block people who attempt to cross illegally.
"We have a moral obligation to protect our states, our nation, and,
importantly, the migrant children getting abused from the disaster
transpiring at our southern border," Roy said. "No border security, no
funding."
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![](../images/080923PIX/news_t22.jpg)
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) walks to the
House Chamber in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, U.S.,
January 25, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Aug/09/images/ads/current/graue_lda_WHITETRUCKpreowned_073123.jpg)
Republicans hold a narrow 222-212 House majority, meaning that as
few as five party members can block appropriations bills, which face
strong Democratic opposition. Hardliners, who temporarily shuttered
the House floor in a protest over spending earlier this year, have
made border security a key priority while clamoring for the
impeachment of Mayorkas.
Congress, which is currently in recess, could risk a government
shutdown unless it can enact 12 fiscal 2024 appropriations bills by
Sept. 30, when current funding for federal agencies is set to
expire, or adopt a stopgap measure allowing government to remain
open while lawmakers debate spending into the autumn and winter.
Roy also opposes a stopgap measure, known as a "continuing
resolution," which he said would allow current funding and policies
to remain in place.
While House Republicans struggle to find consensus on spending, the
Senate is expected to begin voting on bipartisan appropriations
bills when lawmakers return to Washington in next month.
(Reporting by David Morgan in Washington; Additional reporting by
Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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