GOP leaders promote two-track approach to funding DHS

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday endorsed a two-track plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security, paving the way to fund the Transportation Security Administration in the near term, while fueling debate over the agency’s more controversial immigration enforcement functions.

The announcement is a reversal of a bill passed by the Senate last week that would have funded all of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection. Democrats have called for changes to immigration enforcement practices before funding those sub-agencies.

Republican leaders said in a joint statement Wednesday that initial DHS funding for most departments would be followed by a second measure using the Senate process, known as budget reconciliation, for ICE and CBP. Used only for spending-related measures, this procedure allows the Senate to approve them with a simple minority, as opposed to the 60-votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

“In the coming days, Republicans in the Senate and House will follow the President’s direction to fully fund the entire Department of Homeland Security on two parallel tracks: through the appropriations process and through the reconciliation process,” Thune and Johnson said in the statement.

Congress is in the first week of a two-week recess and is not scheduled to return until April 13. DHS has been closed since February following the killing of US citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis as part of an immigration crackdown. Democrats have refused to fund the agency until changes to DHS’s immigration enforcement policies are implemented.

The joint statement from Thune and Johnson comes after the House GOP rebelled on Friday and killed the Senate plan.

Instead of voting on the Senate DHS bill Friday morning, Johnson announced plans to pass a stopgap spending measure that would fund all agencies at their current levels through May 22. 213-203 passedThree Democrats joined all Republicans in support.

Johnson’s strategy guaranteed an extension of the shutdown that had disrupted air travel across the country as unpaid TSA agents walked off the job and walked off the job in large numbers, increasing pressure on lawmakers to reach an agreement before heavy travel for the Passover and Easter holidays in early April.

Since then, Republicans and Democrats have pointed fingers at each other for prolonging the shutdown.

“For days, Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, leaving American families to pay the price of their dysfunction,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Wednesday. “Throughout this entire fight, Senate Democrats never wavered. We were clear from the beginning: fund critical security, protect Americans, and no blank checks for reckless ICE and Border Patrol enforcement. We were united, held the line, and refused to let Republican chaos win.”

Congress got some cover from President Donald Trump, who announced last week that he would divert unused funds from the 2025 Republican tax and spending package, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to pay TSA agents. Those agents began receiving paychecks, and airport security appeared to be relaxed this week.

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump was seen supporting a two-track approach Post on Truth SocialCalled on Congress to bring the bill to its desk by June 1 using the budget reconciliation process.

“[W]e are moving forward to defund our incredible ICE agents and Border Patrol through a process that does not require radical left Democrat votes, and bypasses the Senate filibuster (which should be repealed immediately!), working closely with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Leader John Thune,” Trump posted. “We are going to work as fast and focused as possible to defund our border and ICE agents, and the radical left Democrats will not stop us.”

The consensus from Republican leaders could signal an end to the partial government shutdown, but budget reconciliation could be a long and difficult process.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Has said that he has already started work on reconciliation and will try to complete it. June 1st deadline.

“This bill will focus on ensuring ICE and other critical homeland security functions, as well as efforts to beef up the US military and voter integrity are Democrat-resistance proof. I will work closely with @POTUS and his team in writing this bill,” Graham. Posted on x On 26 March.

But Congress will have to work hard to decide which GOP priorities make it into the final package. Lawmakers have introduced several proposals that extend far beyond funding for ICE and Border Patrol, including supplemental funding for the Iran war and a Trump-backed voter identification and noncitizen voting bill. If more are added, it could complicate the Senate parliamentarian’s chances of allowing a simple-majority vote to approve a measure.

“Following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress would fully reopen the department, ensure all federal employees are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so law-enforcement activities can continue uninterrupted,” Thune and Johnson wrote Wednesday.