The 42-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security could soon come to an end after the Republican-led Senate, in the early hours of Friday morning, moved to fund most of the department while conceding to Democratic Party demands.
After repeated deadlocks that left airports across the country with staffing shortages, the lawmakers finally agreed to fund DHS and its various agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard, but they held off on funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and part of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which Democrats have singled out for their role in implementing Trump’s harsh anti-immigration agenda.
For weeks, both parties appeared unwilling to budge on the funding impasse, but a two-week recess starting Friday seemingly forced negotiators to scramble to close a deal.
“We’ve been trying for weeks to fund the whole thing,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R, S.D.) told reporters. “And, I mean, in the end, this is what they were willing to agree to.”
Thune nonetheless framed it as an “unfortunate” deal for both parties. “The Dems wanted reforms. We tried to work with them on reforms,” he told reporters. “They ended up getting no reforms.”
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D, N.Y.), meanwhile, lauded the deal. “I’m very proud of our Democratic caucus,” Schumer reportedly said. “Throughout it all, Senate Democrats stood united. No wavering, no backing down. We held the line.” Schumer added that a deal could have been reached weeks ago if the GOP did not block Democrats’ demands.
The DHS funding deal now heads to the House, where lawmakers can vote on ending the shutdown as early as Friday.
The decision came after President Donald Trump posted on social media that he would order newly-installed Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin “to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation” in airports, which he blamed on Democrats. But the unilateral action undermined Republicans’ negotiating position in the shutdown fight, as Trump and the GOP previously blamed the TSA crisis on Democrats and seemed to see it as leverage to force Democrats to give in on their demands about ICE.
“It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it!” Trump said on Truth Social. It remains unclear how soon TSA workers will be paid, including back pay, and when airports will resume to normal operations.
Democrats: Trump ‘could have done’ this earlier
Trump, in his post, slammed Democrats for “refusing to fund Immigration Enforcement” and creating “a true National Crisis” through the funding impasse. But after Trump’s announcement, several Democratic lawmakers criticized the President for the delayed response regarding TSA personnel’s paychecks.
“The President could have done this on day one,” Rep. Brad Schneider (D, Ill.) posted on X. “Instead, he punished hard working TSA agents so he could protect his vile, violent, and lawless ICE and CBP policies.” Other lawmakers like Rep. Delia Ramirez (D, Ill.), Rep. Darren Soto (D, Fla.), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D, Ore.) echoed similar sentiments.
Democrats had pushed to fund TSA and other DHS agencies separately, only to be rejected repeatedly by Republicans. On March 22, Trump had even said that Republicans should not agree to any deal without Democrats committing to the passage of his preferred voter ID law.But while the deal reached Friday is a concession to Democrats, ICE and CBP can still enjoy what’s left of a nearly $140 billion windfall from Trump’s major tax-spending and domestic policy megabill that was passed last year. And Thune on late Friday said there was a “good possibility” that further immigration enforcement funding could be achieved through a reconciliation bill.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R, Mo.) also warned Democrats about what the GOP can enact through reconciliation, Politico reported. “Be careful what you wish for,” Schmitt said. “The filibuster cannot save you,” Schmitt added, referencing the Senate tool that effectively raises the threshold for passing legislation and that Trump has tried to push Republicans to remove. “What’s coming next will supercharge deportations.”
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