华盛顿的“爱情语言”：围绕国土安全部资金的斗争
作者：查德·佩尔格拉姆（Chad Pergram）
福克斯新闻
发布时间：2026年2月4日 美国东部时间下午6:09
福克斯新闻国会首席记者查德·佩尔格拉姆在《特别报道》中报道了部分政府停摆的结束。
你现在可以收听福克斯新闻文章了！
“我们会有足够的票数，”众议院议长迈克·约翰逊（R-路易斯安那州）周二上午在众议院接近投票结束为期三天的部分政府停摆时表示。“这从未有过疑问。”
哦真的吗？
约翰逊是对的。共和党人最终设法获得了足够的票数，通过了一项重组后的支出法案以结束短暂的停摆。这当然比秋季创纪录的43天停摆要好。
但这并不容易。
对于共和党人来说，在众议院通过法案是一项挑战，因为他们仅以微弱多数掌权。越来越成为更大问题的是一项名为“规则”的程序性投票。在将法案提交到投票前，通过这项规则来设定辩论条款是必不可少的。而对共和党领导层不满的保守派正经常将原本常规的初步投票变成一场常规的“冒险”。
“在那里你会看到一些摩擦，”佛罗里达州共和党众议员卡特·卡马克在福克斯新闻中预测道。
她是对的。虽然通过法案存在戏剧性的过程，但“规则”的投票过程就像坐过山车一样。
民主党人表示他们不会帮助共和党人通过“规则”。他们辩称，制定规则是多数党的责任。几十年来，众议院一直都是这样运作的。
“我们偶尔会介入以应对共和党人的混乱，”纽约州民主党众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯表示。
投票开始时，肯塔基州共和党众议员托马斯·梅西很快投票反对共和党。
这关乎数学计算。众议院目前席位为218-214，共和党人如果所有成员都投票，只能通过一项规则，前提是有一名成员叛投。两名叛投将导致216-216的平局。根据规则，平局在众议院中失效。
同事凯利·法雷斯从众议院旁听席跟踪了这次程序性投票。片刻之后，田纳西州共和党众议员约翰·罗斯成为第二名共和党反对者。众议院多数党领袖史蒂夫·斯卡利斯（R-路易斯安那州）迅速上前与罗斯交谈。在社交平台X上，罗斯宣布他希望共和党将《保护选民安全法案》（SAVE Act）附加到修订后的支出法案中。需要注意的是，罗斯正在与田纳西州共和党参议员玛莎·布莱克本竞选田纳西州州长。《保护选民安全法案》要求提供公民身份证明才能投票。将此类条款附加到法案中只会延长停摆。因为众议院和参议院将无法达成一致，因为他们批准了不同的法案。此外，在参议院中没有途径可以打破关于这个问题的阻挠议事。
因此，规则投票在有两票共和党反对和四位尚未投票的共和党人（田纳西州众议员安迪·奥格尔斯、佛罗里达州众议员拜伦·唐纳德斯、德克萨斯州众议员特洛伊·内尔斯和印第安纳州众议员维多利亚·斯帕茨）的情况下失败了。共和党高层需要这四位未投票者全部转为支持。此外，他们还需要梅西或罗斯改变投票。投票冻结在216票反对对212票支持。
如果这个失败，部分政府停摆将继续。
唐纳德斯和斯帕茨随后在投票板上投了赞成票。这使得票数为214票支持对216票反对。内尔斯片刻后投票赞成。因此215票赞成对216票反对。梅西和罗斯仍然是仅有的共和党反对者。奥格尔斯仍然置身事外。
但随后罗斯将投票改为赞成。奥格尔斯最终投票并投了赞成票。宾夕法尼亚州共和党众议员G.T.汤普森主持了投票。他敲响了木槌，在217-215的投票结果中结束了投票。众议院通过了“规则”，为众议院讨论支出计划和结束停摆铺平了道路。梅西是唯一的共和党反对者。
在法案通过的过程中也很紧张。在分配的大部分时间里，赞成票都落后于反对票，最终以217-214勉强通过。21名共和党人投了反对票。但21名民主党人投了赞成票，弥补了差距。如果再有一名议员投反对票，票数将变为216-215。如果再有两名议员投反对票，法案将失败。
但就这样，自秋季以来的第二次政府停摆结束了。
“我们已经为联邦政府的96%提供了资金。所以这是一个很好的胜利，”南达科他州共和党参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩在国会本应完成所有资金拨款四个多月后吹嘘道。
但剩下的4%是国土安全部。民主党人要求在资金到期——情人节——前修改移民海关执法局（ICE）的政策。
我如何爱你？让我细数拨款法案。12项中有11项已经完成。除非立法者能够达成协议，否则另一场停摆迫在眉睫，尽管这次只是针对国土安全部。
“针对国土安全部的停摆，我可以接受，”宾夕法尼亚州民主党众议员玛德琳·迪恩宣称。
以国土安全部为中心的停摆意味着运输安全管理局（TSA）工作人员将没有薪水。而移民海关执法局（ICE）的运作将更加不稳定——尽管其运作是通过那项“伟大的美丽法案”（Big, Beautiful Bill）获得资金的。
夏威夷州民主党众议员埃德·凯斯有一条给国土安全部员工的信息。
“你们会得到报酬，因为这会继续发放你们的工资。但不确定性——在我们解决问题之前——你们必须承受，”凯斯警告道。
密西西比州民主党众议员本尼·汤普森是国土安全委员会的最高民主党成员。他是193名反对该法案的民主党人之一。
“这是一个展示你们反对的机会，”汤普森说。
但前众议院多数党领袖、马里兰州民主党人斯泰尼·霍耶是21名投票重新开放政府的民主党人之一。他所在的选区距离首都华盛顿不远，代表着数千名被临时解雇的联邦工人。
“今天是为美国人民资助大部分政府的时候，”霍耶说。
但在一周半内就谈判解决如此棘手的问题在国会几乎是不可能的。众议院和参议院的民主党人将于周四发布他们的具体要求。共和党人也有他们的要求。
“我不愿意仅仅满足他们提出的所有改革要求，甚至一些要求而不要求他们也进行一些改革，”北达科他州共和党参议员凯文·克莱默表示。
一些共和党人希望结束庇护城市政策。另一些人希望将《保护选民安全法案》（SAVE Act）纳入其中。
共和党人怀疑民主党人的动机。
“如果他们有任何试图让政府其他机构继续关闭的意图，那将是徒劳的，”约翰逊说。“他们正在玩一个非常危险的游戏。”
杰弗里斯宣称他对国土安全部的一年期继续决议（CR）持“绝对反对”态度。杰弗里斯重申“截止日期是2月13日”。
但实际上是否有足够时间解决问题？
“如果你有意愿，你可以达成目标，”众议院拨款委员会民主党资深成员、康涅狄格州众议员罗莎·德劳罗说。
她补充说，将在“13日”就国土安全部资金问题进行某种投票。
但随着时间紧迫，民主党人仍未提出具体的立法要求，这表明他们可能还在试图找出需要做什么。
“这表明他们正在试图弄清楚这里需要做什么，”图恩表示。“在两周的期限内这样做是没有意义的。”
图恩还表示，他认为民主党人希望将其作为中期选举的“政治议题”。
因此，情人节是国土安全部资金的最后期限。没有什么比部分政府停摆更浪漫的了。但不要期望立法者会互相赠送多芬巧克力或罗素斯托弗的糖果。
与其交换立法提案，或许立法者可以交换印有特定要求的糖果心。与其写“做我的”或“拥抱我”，不如写“无漫游巡逻”或“选民身份”。
查德·佩尔格拉姆目前担任福克斯新闻频道（FNC）的首席国会记者。他于2007年9月加入该网络，总部设在华盛顿特区。
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388730654112
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388744851112
Valentine’s Day pivotal in congressional DHS funding fight | Fox News
Fighting over Homeland Security funding is the current love language in Washington
By Chad Pergram
Fox News
Published February 4, 2026 6:09pm EST
Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on the end of the partial government shutdown on ‘Special Report.’
NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!
“We’ll have the votes,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as the House approached a vote to end a three-day, partial government shutdown Tuesday morning. “That was never in doubt.”
Oh really?
Well, Johnson was right. Republicans finally conjured up the votes to pass a retooled spending package to end the brief shutdown. Certainly better than the record 43-day shutdown in the fall.
But it wasn’t necessarily easy.
Passing bills in the House is a challenge for Republicans with their narrow majority. What’s increasingly becoming even more problematic is a procedural vote known as the “rule.” Adopting the rule to set the terms of debate is essential before bringing a bill to the floor. And conservatives who are upset with the GOP leadership are regularly converting what was a routine preliminary vote into a regular adventure.
“That’s where you’re going to see some friction,” predicted Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., on Fox.
She was right. While there was drama passing the bill, the rule was a roller coaster.
Democrats said they would not help Republicans adopt the rule. They argued that the rule is the responsibility of the majority. It’s historically been that way in the House for decades.
“On rare occasion, have we stepped in to deal with Republican dysfunction,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
When the vote started, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was quick to vote no for the GOP.
It’s about the math. With the House at 218-214, Republicans could only adopt the rule with one defection if all Members voted. Two defections would produce a 216-216 tie. By rule, ties lose in the House.
Colleague Kelly Phares tracked the procedural vote from the House gallery. After a few moments, Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., became the second GOP nay. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., swooped in to converse with Rose. On X, Rose declared he wanted the GOP to attach the SAVE Act to the revised spending bill. Note that Rose is running against Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., for Tennessee governor. The SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship to vote. Latching such a provision to the bill would only prolong the shutdown. That’s because the House and Senate would remain out of alignment, having approved different bills. Moreover, there was no pathway to break a filibuster on the issue in the Senate.
So the rule was failing with two GOP nays and four Republicans who hadn’t voted yet: Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Byron Donalds, R-Fla., Troy Nehls, R-Texas and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind. The Republican brass would need all four nonvoters to switch to yes. Plus, they’d need Massie or Rose to change. The vote froze at 216 nays to 212 yeas.
If this blew up, the partial government shutdown would continue.
Donalds and Spartz then went up on the board as yeas. That made the tally 214 yeas to 216 noes. Nehls voted yea a few moments later. So 215 yeas to 216 noes. Massie and Rose remained the only Republican nays. And Ogles remained on the sidelines.
But then Rose changed his vote to yes. Ogles finally voted and was a yea. Rep. G.T. Thompson, R-Penn., presided over the vote. He rapped the gavel, closing the vote at 217-215. The House approved the rule, paving the way for the House to debate the spending plan and end the shutdown. Massie was the only GOP no.
Things were also tight on passage of the bill. The yeas ran behind the nays for most of the allotted time before barely passing at 217-214. 21 Republicans voted nay. But 21 Democrats voted yea, making up the difference. Had one more Member voted no, the tally would have been 216-215. The bill would have failed had an additional two Members voted no.
But with that, the second government shutdown since autumn ended.
“We have fully 96% of the federal government funded. So that’s a that’s a good win,” bragged Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., more than four months after Congress was supposed to have funded everything.
But that remaining four percent is the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats demand changes at ICE before funding expires – on Valentine’s Day.
How do I love thee? Let me count the appropriations bills. 11 of the 12 are done. And unless lawmakers can craft an agreement, another shutdown looms, albeit just for DHS.
“A shutdown of Homeland Security. I’m okay with that,” declared Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Penn.
A DHS-centric shutdown means no pay for TSA. And more volatility at ICE – even though its operations are funded through the Big, Beautiful Bill.
Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, had a message for DHS employees.
“You will be paid because this continues your pay. But the uncertainty – until we get this resolved – you must live with,” warned Case.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. He’s one of 193 Democrats who opposed the bill.
“This is an opportunity to demonstrate your opposition,” said Thompson.
But former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was one of those 21 Democrats who voted to re-open the government. He represents thousands of sidelined federal workers in his district not far from the nation’s capital.
“Today is a time to fund the majority of government for the American people,” said Hoyer.
But negotiating an agreement on such a nettlesome issue in a week-and-a-half is nearly impossible in Congress. House and Senate Democrats will release their concrete demands Thursday. Republicans have their requests, too.
“I’m not willing to just give them every reform they ask for. Or even some without getting some reforms ourselves,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
Some Republicans want an end to sanctuary cities. Others want to include the SAVE Act.
Republicans are suspect of the Democrats’ motives.
“If they have any intention of trying to keep these other agencies of government closed, it will be a fool’s errand,” said Johnson. “It’s a very dangerous game that they’re playing.”
Jeffries declared he was a “hard no on a year-long CR (an interim spending plan),” for DHS. Jeffries reiterated that “the deadline is February 13th.”
But is there realistically enough time to fix this?
“You can get to where you want to go if you have the will to get there,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the leading Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.
She added that there would be “a vote” of some sort related to DHS funding “on the 13th.
But time to get an agreement is dripping off the clock as Democrats still haven’t made specific, legislative requests.
“That’s an indication to me they’re trying to figure out what they need to do here,” said Thune. “Trying to do this with a two-week deadline makes no sense here.”
Thune added that he believes Democrats wanted to have a “political issue” for the midterms.
So Valentine’s Day is the deadline for DHS funding. There’s nothing more romantic than a partial government shutdown. But don’t expect lawmakers to give each other Dove chocolate bars or boxes of Russell Stover.
Rather than trading legislative proposals, perhaps lawmakers can exchange candy hearts with specific requests emblazoned on the top of each one. Rather than “Be mine” or “Hug me,” the hearts can say “No roving patrols” or “Voter ID.”
Chad Pergram currently serves as Chief Congressional Correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388730654112
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388744851112