DHS funding heads to House vote after Johnson quells GOP revolt over ethanol

By Fox News · Fox News

Republicans set up a House-wide vote on a $1.2 trillion spending package on Thursday, including funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., worked overnight to quell a rebellion over Midwestern Republican energy demands. The House Rules Committee voted 9-4 to advance two spending bills needed to avoid a government shutdown that is set to begin on Jan. 30. While a compromise appears to have eased concerns for GOP lawmakers in the Midwest, the DHS funding portion is still causing ire among progressives and conservatives alike over its measures on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). One bill would fund the departments of War, Education, Labor and Health and Human Services and the second is aimed at DHS — including ICE. According to comments from lawmakers made to Fox News Digital, as many as 20 Republicans had threatened to kill the spending package during a key procedural vote later on Wednesday. They demanded the inclusion of a provision to allow the year-round sale of E15 ethanol, a type of gasoline blend. Under the current Clean Air Act, E15's sales are limited due to failing to overcome Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. Johnson, emerging from the Rules Committee early on Thursday, said he had reached an agreement with the would-be rebels. "It's a very positive development," Johnson told Fox News Digital. "We decided among a good representation of the conference late last night that we would create the E15 Domestic Energy Council. It will be composed not just of members from across the conference with different views but also stakeholders — refiners, people in the industry." That council, Johnson also explained, would take a closer look at the demands made by Midwest Republicans and weigh them against the environmental protections the country has in place. He said he expected those talks to be a "worthwhile endeavor" but didn't expand on what kind of resolution he expects to see. A source c…