Johnson accuses Democrats of taking government hostage over ‘crazy’ immigration agenda

House Speaker Mike Johnson chastised congressional Democrats Friday, saying Republicans will not be part of any effort to reopen America's borders and stop the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants.

"They have taken hostage the funding processes of government so that they can impose their radical agenda on the American people," Johnson told reporters of Senate Democrats.

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"The Senate Democrats have foisted upon this appropriations process their radical, crazy agenda," he added.

"We call it crazy because that's what it is.

They want to reopen the borders, and they want to stop the deportation of dangerous criminal illegal aliens.

We have to do these basic functions of government."
"The only thing standing between ending this chaos or not are House Republicans," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.

"There’s a bipartisan bill that emerged from the Senate with uniform support, and it should be brought to the floor immediately so we can pay TSA agents, so we can end the chaos at airports across the country and stop inconveniencing millions of Americans."
Democrats have refused to fully fund DHS unless Republicans agree to new restrictions on federal immigration authorities.

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Lawmakers have come under increased pressure to strike a deal to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents after many have resigned and lines at airports across the country have swelled daily because of staffing issues.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pay TSA agents despite Congress having not appropriated the funds for it.

Johnson said Republicans will put forward a continuing resolution for all agencies under DHS to keep operating at their current funding levels.

"The reason that we can't accept this ridiculousness is because we're not going to risk not funding the agencies that keep the American people safe," he said.

The shutdown began in February, weeks after federal agents shot and killed two people in separate incidents during immigration raids in Minnesota.

Democrats have demanded changes to ICE and DHS and have refused to fund the agencies.