US House Republicans face jam-packed week ahead

(The Center Square) – U.S. House Republicans face a daunting legislative to-do list for the week ahead. The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for more than 70 days, but House Republicans are still refusing to vote on Senate-passed legislation to reopen it until they see more progress on immigration enforcement funding. The Senate has already passed a budget resolution laying out the guidelines for a filibuster-proof budget reconciliation bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol for the next three years. Once the House approves the budget resolution, lawmakers can begin drafting the actual reconciliation bill. Yet that approval is far from certain, as some Republicans wish to tack on other legislative priorities to the bill. U.S. Reps. Jason Smith, R-Mo., Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and others have argued this might be Republicans’ last chance to muscle through partisan policies before the congressional balance of