Hill staffers say ICE crackdown will harm GOP - Punchbowl News

Most Republican Hill staffers fear the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda will cost them in the upcoming midterm elections, according to our recent Canvass survey.

Only 15% of GOP Hill staffers believe the Trump administration’s deployment of ICE agents nationwide will help their chances of winning in November.

*President Donald Trump’s *immigration crackdown has caused an upheaval in several Democratic-led cities. Protests erupted nationwide after federal immigration agents shot and killed two Americans in January.

*How did we get here? *From our scoop last week, Trump quietly asked Hill Republicans for their input on whether to fire Department of Homeland Security Secretary *Kristi Noem. *

Trump ultimately decided to nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to replace Noem as DHS secretary. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, will appoint a temporary replacement for Mullin until the next scheduled election.

Meanwhile, DHS has been partially shut down for a month as Republicans and Democrats continue to go back and forth on a funding deal.

But Democrats *will only support funding the department if the bill includes reforms to ICE. Sen. *Patty Murray (Wash.), top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, is pushing a proposal that would fund all DHS agencies except ICE, CBP and the Office of the Secretary.

*And Senate Democrats *have spent the day on the Senate floor seeking unanimous consent to individually fund various agencies housed within DHS, including TSA, the Coast Guard and FEMA. Republicans have rejected these requests.

Senate Democrats also blocked a GOP effort to pass a short-term DHS funding bill via a 46-51 vote.

*The Canvass Capitol Hill *survey was conducted Feb. 10 – March 2, in partnership with independent public affairs firm, LSG.

*Want to take part in The Canvass? *Our survey provides anonymous monthly insights from top Capitol Hill staffers and K Street leaders on key issues in Washington. Sign up here if you work on K Street. Click here to sign up if you’re a senior congressional staffer.