In a rare late-night session, the Senate unanimously approved funding for most of the Department of Homeland Security, except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and part of Customs and Border Protection.
The deal would fund other components of DHS, such as the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard, but the House of Representatives will still need to act before funded agencies within the department can reopen.
After the failure of negotiations on Thursday night, senators focused on approving the funds that they managed to agree to unanimously. On the way to the floor early Friday morning, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters: “Tonight we’re going to implement as much of the DHS program as we can, and then we’ll fund the rest.”
The conflict over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has led to the withholding of salaries of thousands of TSA agents and other DHS employees, causing significant travel delays and the loss of numerous flights across the country.
Frustration on Capitol Hill reached new levels this week, with senators pushing to end the impasse before the scheduled two-week recess.
Pressed on what specifically would be funded, Thune responded, “I think it’ll be everything but ICE and CBP today. So we’ll have to do the rest,” though he noted, “I think customs, they went through customs,” but not border patrol.
Although the bill passed by the Senate does not include funding for ICE or the Border Patrol, Republicans had already planned to fund those agencies as part of their sweeping domestic policy package last year.
“The good news is we anticipated this a year ago,” Thune said. “I mean, one of the reasons we advanced Homeland Security funding in that big bill was because we anticipated that this would probably happen, and it did.”
ICE agents are playing a more active role in airport security, but long lines persist ahead of the weekend influx of travelers.
Thune said he spoke with President Donald Trump on Thursday night, before Trump announced he would order DHS to pay TSA agents even if the department remained unfunded.
“I spoke to him earlier today, just before he made his announcement. So yeah, I think he anticipates what we’re trying to do here,” he told reporters.
However, asked if he thinks the House will take the same measure to fund most of the department, Thune said, “I don’t know what the House will do.”
“I mean, I think the House is aware of what we’re considering, and I think they’re probably eager to address this issue beyond, you know, this time of day, on a Friday, but let’s hope they’re there and we can get at least much of the government back up and running, and then from there we’ll see what happens,” he continued.
Thune argued that while Democrats had initially said they would fund everything except ICE and CBP, they have now missed an opportunity to push for changes to ICE protocols and tactics.
“I still think it’s unfortunate,” he said. “The Democrats wanted reforms. We tried to work with them on reforms. In the end they didn’t get any. But, you know, we’ll have to fight some of those battles another day.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declared he was “very proud” of his caucus that “stood together” amid the closure of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“After the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Senate Democrats were clear: no blank check for lawless ICE and Border Patrol. This long-awaited deal funds TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA and CISA, strengthens security at the border and at points of entry, and keeps Americans safe,” Schumer announced.
This could have been accomplished weeks ago if Republicans hadn’t gotten in the way. Democrats remained steadfast in our opposition to Donald Trump’s rampant and deadly militia not receiving more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms. I am very proud of our Democratic parliamentary group. Throughout this process, Democratic senators remained united. Without hesitating, without giving in. We maintained our position.
Thune noted that as negotiations failed, Senate Democrats did not get the changes to ICE protocols and tactics they had previously demanded, arguing, “Democrats didn’t really want a solution.”
“They wanted a topic of debate. Politics over public policy, self-interest over reform, ingratiating themselves to their base instead of actually solving the problem,” the South Dakota Republican added.
This story has been updated with additional details.
