House panel advances three major bills after marathon hearing, but fate on floor uncertain

Republican leaders snapped the House out of a state of limbo caused by GOP infighting as the House Rules Committee advanced an ambitious slate of high-profile, must-pass bills on Tuesday evening — tacking on two major sweeteners to appease corn-state Republicans and hardline conservatives. The panel, after a marathon hearing that stretched over two days and saw Democrats offer amendment after amendment, advanced a procedural rule to tee up consideration on three major bills: one reauthorizing foreign spy powers in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which are set to expire after Thursday; the sprawling Farm Bill; and the Senate-passed budget reconciliation blueprint setting up a GOP-only path to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, as part of a two-step way to end the record-long Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown. The rule encompassing all three bills must still pass the full House before lawmakers vote on each measure individually — and that could prove to be a heavy lift. Speaker Mike Johnston (R-La.) can only afford to lose two GOP votes and a number of Republicans have expressed deep reservations. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) wrote on X Tuesday evening that she is a “NO on the Rule.” “I filed multiple non controversial amendments to the Farm Bill to help rural Coloradans. @RepJoeNeguse asked the Rules Committee to consider them on the House floor. …