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DHS Funding · Government Shutdown · Immigration Policy · Political Gridlock
A proposal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is on shaky ground as President Trump and Senate Democrats both decline to embrace the emerging framework, prolonging a 40-day shutdown impacting TSA and other federal employees.
After weeks of negotiations, Senate Republicans previewed a plan to fund the majority of DHS, excluding Immigration and Custom Enforcement's (ICE) enforcement and removal operations division. This GOP plan failed a procedural vote as Democrats demand significant reforms to ICE tactics, citing two U.S. citizens killed in Minneapolis earlier this year.
President Trump, conversely, insists on including an unrelated overhaul of federal elections, the SAVE America Act, vowing not to sign other bills until it passes. The shutdown has led to "highest wait times in history" at airports, with TSA absences topping 40% and 480 officers quitting, according to TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeil.
Senate Democrats, including Sen. Tim Kaine, advocate funding all other agencies while setting aside ICE, noting ICE officers are paid from $75 billion in separate funds from Congress last summer.
Republicans are now exploring a second reconciliation effort to pass ICE funding and parts of the SAVE America Act without Democratic support, a process Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham supports, but Sen. Mike Lee expresses skepticism about its feasibility under Senate rules.
DHS Funding Stalls: Trump, Democrats Reject Deal(current)