Will DHS shutdown end soon? Updates as TSA wait times reach historic high

WASHINGTON – The Senate on March 25 once again voted against moving forward with a proposal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, a sign that momentum from earlier in the week to end the tumultuous shutdown has slowed.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said ahead of the vote that it would reflect the GOP's latest offer to fund all of DHS except for ICE's enforcement and removal division. Democrats dug in their heels, uniformly refusing to advance legislation after expressing frustration that a Republican proposal didn't include more immigration enforcement reforms that were recently agreed to by the White House.

Ahead of the vote, a bipartisan group of senators — among them Katie Britt, the Alabama Republican who's been a key negotiator in the talks to end the DHS shutdown — huddled on the floor of the Senate chamber. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, left the encounter shaking his head, telling reporters he was frustrated.

Also in the huddle was Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. He said afterward that one of the primary sticking points is that under the GOP's proposed framework, Homeland Security could still use other agents to conduct ICE's enforcement operations.

"It's an illusory solution," he said.

After what seemed like a breakthrough on March 23, Republicans presented Democrats with a three-page amendment that would have included "all of the original reforms" from a bipartisan bill that was negotiated earlier this year, according to Ryan Wrasse, a Thune spokesperson.

Democrats countered that the prior legislation was parsed out before Border Patrol agents killed Alex Pretti in January, sparking widespread public outcry. They've been demanding that further reforms be included: among them a ban on mask-wearing for ICE officers and Border Patrol agents, as well as requirements for judicial warrants to conduct immigration raids.

"ICE is in violation of 90 different court orders right now," Sen Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, told reporters. "I would be violating my oath of office to fund ICE without reforms."

Yet Thune said on March 25 that if Republicans agree not to fully fund ICE, reforms aren't on the table. Regardless, ICE is still operating with a massive cash influx provided by the GOP last year.

"Why do you want policy changes that would apply to funding if there's not going to be any funding?" Thune said. "The warrants issue and the mask issue, I think they know those are areas that are very, very difficult to write policies about."

Democrats sent Republicans a new offer on March 25, which Thune and other GOP lawmakers have already written off.

All the back-and-forth is running up against a fast-approaching March 27 deadline, when Congress has been scheduled to take a two-week recess for Easter and Passover. Two days before the break was supposed to start, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, didn't appear optimistic that lawmakers' vacations won't be upended. The ball is in Republicans' court, she said.

"I don't control the floor," she told USA TODAY.

Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.