The Senate's unanimous passage of the temporary funding package marks a critical step toward ending the partial shutdown, though the legislation must still be approved by the House of Representatives to take effect. Congress's Republican leaders agreed to advance legislation that would fund the majority of DHS's operations, excluding those involved in immigration enforcement, according to multiple reports. The proposal would fund most of Homeland Security but not ICE's enforcement and removal operations that are core to Trump's deportation agenda, research indicates. This move follows Republican leaders abandoning an attempt to fund all of DHS for 60 days, which Senate Democrats vowed to block with a filibuster, as reported by major media.
The partial shutdown has lasted 40 days, and it may be the longest funding lapse in U.S. history, according to multiple sources. This duration highlights the historical significance of the funding crisis, which has strained government operations and public services.
Travel disruptions are deepening as senators race to salvage a proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown, research shows. The funding lapse caused security lines to stretch for hours at some airports as TSA employees quit or called out of work after going weeks without pay, multiple reports indicate. Wait times eased earlier this week after Donald Trump signed an order for TSA employees to receive paychecks, but U.S. airports are still snarled by long security lines with travelers told to arrive hours early in Houston, Atlanta, and Baltimore/Washington International, according to research. Nearly 11% of TSA workers scheduled for duty Monday missed work and at least 458 have quit since the shutdown began, according to DHS, and multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% call out rates among TSA workers, Acting TSA administrator Ha McNeill said according to prepared remarks.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said they would move to pass a measure funding DHS while excluding money for ICE and parts of Customs and Border Protection. The proposal would fund most of Homeland Security but not ICE's enforcement and removal operations that are core to Trump's deportation agenda, research indicates. Republican leaders abandoned an attempt to fund all of DHS for 60 days, which Senate Democrats vowed to block with a filibuster, as reported by major media.
Democrats have objected to funding ICE and other agencies involved in Trump's mass deportation campaign unless the administration agreed to new rules governing agents' conduct. The outcome represents a mixed bag for Democrats, who held up the annual appropriations bill for DHS in January after immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, according to multiple reports. Democrats' demand for reforms prompted DHS to partially shut down in mid-February, but ICE and other agencies continued operations using funds from the One, major media reports.
We appreciate that Senator Graham and the Senate budget committee have already initiated the process of developing a budget resolution that will ensure border security and immigration enforcement will be funded for the balance of the Trump administration and insulated from future attempts by the Democrats to defund those agencies.
To get around Democratic objections, Thune and Johnson endorsed a plan from Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham to write a measure funding ICE that could be passed with Republican votes alone using the budget reconciliation procedure, multiple reports indicate. It remains unclear when the Senate and House of Representatives, which are on recess, can pass the DHS funding bill, according to major media. Johnson and Thune said they hoped to resolve the matter 'in the coming days', a sign they may try to pass it during brief ceremonial sessions during congressional recesses. Both the House and Senate have their next ceremonial sessions scheduled on Thursday morning, as reported by major media.
Parallel to the legislative efforts, the Trump administration is expanding efforts to strip citizenship from foreign-born Americans, according to two people familiar with the plans. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is aiming to litigate 100 to 200 cases a month to strip citizenship, one of the sources said.
In unrelated developments, a right-wing separatist movement in Alberta has discussed switching to U.S. currency and creating a new military in three meetings with U.S. State and Treasury Department officials over the past year, research shows. The movement's leaders are looking to place a referendum on separating Alberta from Canada on the ballot this year, according to research.
Elsewhere, the CIA released a new Mandarin-language video appealing to members of China's military to spy for the United States, research indicates. The video is the latest in a series aimed at recruiting potential informants in China's regime, as reported by research.
Additional context includes Trump's nominee Jeremy Carl facing bipartisan opposition after Sen. John Curtis challenged him over past remarks about Israel and the Holocaust, research shows. Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were spotted in terminals at Philadelphia International Airport, according to research.
The implications of these developments are mixed for Democrats, who held up the annual appropriations bill for DHS in January after immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, according to multiple reports. Travel disruptions are deepening as senators race to salvage a proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown, research shows.