WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are debating a proposal aimed at ending a budget impasse at the Department of Homeland Security that would fund most parts of the department, including unpaid Transportation Security Administration airport workers, but not the ICE enforcement and clearance operations at the center of the dispute.
The potential breakthrough comes after a group of Republican senators traveled to the White House late Monday to meet with President Donald Trump. Senators said they expect negotiators to work through the night to hammer out details and come up with written proposals for both sides to discuss at their weekly caucus lunch on Tuesday.
“All I can say is that the discussions have been very positive and productive and hopefully moving in the right direction,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
“Both sides are working together in earnest,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters late at night.
A month-long standoff took an abrupt turn as long lines filled U.S. airports after routine funding for the Department of Homeland Security stopped, leaving the Transportation Security Administration short-staffed during the spring travel season. Democrats are refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security without limiting Trump’s immigration enforcement and mass deportations after two U.S. citizens died at ICE protests in Minneapolis.
Trump took the unusual step over the weekend of ordering Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to provide airport security, prompting warnings from some lawmakers that it could escalate tensions.
The outlines of a deal under consideration would fund most of the Department of Homeland Security but would not include funding for a major part of ICE, the enforcement and deportation operations that are at the heart of Trump’s deportation agenda.
Under the currently proposed package, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division and Customs and Border Protection would be funded, but with new guardrails in place to allow officers from those divisions to perform their traditional duties rather than the ones used recently in urban immigration roundups. It would also include a series of changes in immigration operations demanded by Democrats, including requiring officers to wear body cameras and identification.
Since ICE is already largely funded through Trump’s massive tax relief bill and immigration officers are still being paid during the partial government shutdown, senators said the new restrictions would also target businesses that rely on that funding source.
“I’m going to be working all night,” said lead negotiator Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who returned from a White House meeting hoping to find a solution to “land this plane.”
“We’re going to work hard,” she said.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, who was not a member of the White House panel, said his understanding was that there was a “sense of urgency” in the talks.
Coons described the various options facing senators at this point — from providing no funding to ICE but also not limiting the agency’s operations, to fully funding ICE but with more restrictions demanded by Democrats, to a middle-of-the-road option that funds most of the Department of Homeland Security, excluding ICE’s enforcement and removal operations. He and other senators believe the middle option was widely discussed after the White House talks.
“The first step is to get a proposal in writing,” said Sen. Angus King, R-Maine, The Independent. “I want to see what this means.”
Senators also confirmed Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Security secretary Monday night. He succeeds Kristi Noem, who led the department’s immigration enforcement operations that sparked public outcry and a funding impasse.
Mullin provides a potential new face to the immigration campaign. During his confirmation hearing last week, Mullin addressed another key demand that Democrats want — ensuring that judges sign off on the search warrants immigration officers use to search people’s homes, rather than simply relying on administrative warrants issued by the department.
“It’s huge,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said of the progress of the changes. “Norm is gone. That’s a big deal.”
Sen. John Hoeven said he hopes senators can resolve the issue. “Look, there are a lot of different variables in the equation,” he said. “I hope we can get there.”
