Republican senators are weighing a bipartisan agreement to restore funding to most of the Department of Homeland Security, initially excluding money for arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants. Under the potential deal, Republicans would accede to Democratic demands to fund all DHS parts except those involved in immigration enforcement operations. The GOP would then move to pay for immigration enforcement using the budget reconciliation process, which allows addressing spending without Democratic votes. This framework gained momentum after a Monday evening meeting at the White House between Donald Trump and Republican senators, and the funding package was endorsed by President Trump on Thursday.
The DHS has been partly shut down since mid-February, after Senate Democrats blocked long-term funding because it lacked new guardrails on immigration enforcement they demanded following fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis. The second deadly shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers on Saturday upended funding plans, with Democrats citing the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good as catalysts for change. Alex Pretti was killed by masked federal agents in broad daylight, and Renee Good was killed by federal agents. These incidents fueled Democratic insistence on reforms before approving funding.
The White House meeting provided critical momentum for a potential agreement, bringing together key Republican figures to align with Trump's endorsement of the funding package.
Specific components of the potential deal include allowing funding for Customs and Border Protection, and Homeland Security Investigations, which is under ICE. According to the AP, both agencies would face new rules requiring that agents not be diverted from their regular roles to conduct deportations. Some of Democrats' demands would also be addressed, including the wearing of identification and body cameras. Among the broader demands laid out by Democrats in negotiations are requirements that immigration agents obtain judicial warrants before entering private property, wear identification, cease wearing masks, and adhere to a stronger use of force policy. Democrats are demanding changes to how immigration officers carry out arrests, investigations, body cameras, and other reforms.
The Senate approved legislation to keep funding flowing for most of the federal government and give Congress a two-week window to negotiate DHS immigration enforcement changes. The funding package passed the Senate by a vote of 71 to 29. However, the legislation must still be approved by the House, which is in recess until Monday.
Republican priorities have emphasized funding critical DHS functions, with Republicans underscoring all week that it is imperative to fund CISA, TSA, FEMA, and other important DHS operations. Senate Republicans blocked a bill to pay TSA agents, fund FEMA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Democrats tried to win unanimous agreement in the Senate to pass legislation funding DHS operations outside of immigration enforcement, but were blocked.
Democratic legislative attempts included specific proposals such as Senator Patty Murray pushing to pass a bill funding every DHS agency except ICE, CBP, and the Office of the Secretary. Democrats had proposed legislation to fund only TSA while working out broader immigration enforcement questions. Democrats said they would not vote to authorize DHS operations unless Republicans agreed to new restrictions on federal agents, including showing identification, stopping wearing masks, and ceasing street detentions.
The shutdown has severely impacted TSA, with lines at checkpoints growing increasingly long at several airports across the country as employees go weeks without pay. Tens of thousands of TSA agents have been forced to work without pay for weeks, leading to hours-long delays at airports in Houston, New Jersey, New York, and Louisiana. TSA agents are guaranteed back pay when the shutdown is over. Senator John Cornyn said TSA employees had missed one full and one partial paycheck.
In response to the airport chaos, President Trump ordered agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to support the TSA at several airports, ostensibly to address congestion. Trump announced that ICE agents would be deployed to airports across the country to help ease travel chaos from the DHS shutdown. He called on ICE agents working at airports to do so without wearing face coverings.
Masks have been a point of fierce contention in DHS funding talks, with Democrats demanding agents conduct operations without them while Republicans insist they are critical to safety.
Political theater unfolded at airports, with Senator John Cornyn and Congressman Greg Casar squabbling outside Austin's international airport over DHS funding. Cornyn brought TSA employees lunch at the airport.
ICE funding has not been affected by the shutdown because Republicans allocated the agency tens of billions of dollars in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year. Democrats have objected to the agency's tactics, but operations continue due to this prior funding.
Reactions to the crisis include calls for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's resignation, with Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis leading the charge. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and others had swiftly labeled Alex Pretti a 'domestic terrorist'.
Implications of the potential deal hinge on unknown details, such as the specific new rules or guardrails on immigration enforcement operations included. The exact status of the budget reconciliation process for funding immigration enforcement separately remains unclear, as does the judicial warrant requirement and stronger use of force policy demanded by Democrats.
Next steps involve the House vote on the Senate-approved funding package, but the timing and expected outcome are uncertain. How many ICE agents have been deployed to airports and what specific tasks they are performing to address TSA congestion also remain unknown.