Davids Slams House Leadership for Blocking Bipartisan Deal to Fully Reopen Government

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Representative Sharice Davids released the below statement after U.S. House Republican leadership refused to vote on a bipartisan funding deal — already passed by the Senate — to support the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Coast Guard, and other critical programs. This deal, which ensures federal workers are paid, does not include immigration-related agencies, as funding for those was already approved last year under a separate partisan budget.

Instead, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who called the bipartisan deal a “joke,” pushed a partisan funding package with little chance of becoming law. Davids is urging House leaders to pass the bipartisan agreement immediately and continue negotiations on comprehensive, bipartisan immigration enforcement reform.

"Across Kansas and the country, federal workers go without pay and travelers wait in long TSA lines all because House Republican politicians are putting politics ahead of people’s livelihoods,” said Davids. “I support the bipartisan agreement passed in the Senate to fund TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard — a solution I’ve been pushing for weeks to end this partial shutdown. Yet, once again, politics is being put ahead of people’s livelihoods, which is exactly why Kansans are so fed up with the federal government. I won’t give up. We must reach a bipartisan agreement to get federal workers paid and also continue negotiating real, bipartisan immigration reforms that respect the law and protect every Kansan’s safety and security."