GOP leaders boost two-track approach to funding DHS

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday backed 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 punting debate over the agency’s more controversial immigration enforcement functions. 

The announcement amounts to a reversion back to the bill the Senate passed last week that would have funded all of DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection. Democrats have called for changes to immigration enforcement practices before funding those subagencies.

Initial DHS funding for most of the department would be followed by a second measure using a Senate procedure known as budget reconciliation for ICE and CBP, the Republican leaders said Wednesday in a joint statement. Used only for spending-related measures, that process allows the Senate to approve 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 be following through on the President’s directive by fully funding 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 due to return until April 13. DHS has been shut down since February, after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during an immigration crackdown. Democrats have refused to fund the agency until changes to DHS immigration enforcement policies are implemented.

Thune and Johnson’s joint statement came after the House GOP revolted on Friday and killed the Senate plan.

Rather than take a vote on the Senate DHS bill that advanced early Friday morning, Johnson announced a plan to pass a stopgap spending measure that would fund all of the agency at its current levels through May 22. That continuing resolution passed 213-203, with three Democrats joining all Republicans in support.

Johnson’s strategy guaranteed the extension of the shutdown that had disrupted air travel across the country, as unpaid TSA agents called out of work and quit in large numbers, ramping up pressure on lawmakers to reach an agreement ahead of 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, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Wednesday. “Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered. We were clear from the start: fund critical security, protect Americans, and no blank check 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 he would draw from unspent funds from the 2025 Republican tax and spending package, known as the “big beautiful bill,” to pay TSA agents. Those agents began to receive paychecks, and the lines at airport security appeared to ease this week.

Trump earlier Wednesday appeared to back a two-track approach in a post to Truth Social, calling on Congress to get a bill to his desk by June 1 using the budget reconciliation process.

“(W)e are going forward to fund our incredible ICE Agents and Border Patrol through a process that doesn’t need Radical Left Democrat votes, and bypasses the Senate Filibuster (which should be repealed, IMMEDIATELY!), working in close conjunction with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Leader John Thune,” Trump posted. “We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us.”

The consensus from Republican leaders could signal the end of the partial government shutdown, but budget reconciliation can be a long and arduous process.

Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has said he has already begun work on reconciliation and would strive to meet the June 1 deadline.

“This bill will focus on ensuring ICE and other vital functions of homeland security, as well as the U.S. military and efforts to increase voter integrity, are Democrat-resistance proof. I will be working closely with @POTUS and his team in writing this bill,” Graham posted to X on March 26.

But Congress will have to do the hard work of deciding which GOP priorities make it into the final package. Lawmakers have floated a grab bag of proposals that extend well beyond funding for ICE and border patrol, including supplemental funds for the Iran war and a Trump-backed voter identification and noncitizen voting bill. If more things get added, it could complicate the chances of the Senate parliamentarian allowing a simple-majority vote to approve a measure.

“In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited,” Thune and Johnson wrote Wednesday.