DHS Talks Hint at Optimism for Avoiding a Shutdown

After trading barbs about immigration enforcement policy, the White House and Senate Democrats are negotiating a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. Some senators seem optimistic about the chances of agreeing on another funding patch for the department by Friday — the deadline to avoid a shutdown of the agency.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday that he is hopeful Democrats will help pass a short-term continuing resolution, or “CR,” to fund the department while talks continue with the White House. The House has largely been left out of the negotiations, but both chambers are scheduled to hold DHS-related hearings this week.

Thune said he would start teeing up a CR on Tuesday, though it’s unclear how long the short-term funding bill may go.

“Part of that depends on how well the negotiations are going, and whether it looks like there’s going to be a pathway to success,” Thune said. “Based on what I’m familiar with about the discussions so far, I think there is.”

Congress already approved funding for the rest of the government through the end of the 2026 fiscal year. But DHS was funded for just two weeks, after Democrats demanded reforms following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minnesota. Any new legislation in the Senate would need 60 votes to pass, requiring some bipartisan support.

Democrats sent Republicans and the White House a draft of legislation on Sunday that would codify several of their demands to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, including judicial-warrant requirements and limits on mask-wearing.

The Trump administration responded with its own counterproposal Monday night, a White House official confirmed to NOTUS. Up until now, the White House has remained intentionally vague about which policies they would be willing to compromise on and what’s a red line.

A second official told NOTUS that the White House was focused on “negotiating in good faith.” The official said that although discussions started between Republicans and Democrats in the Appropriations Committee, officials knew that they would eventually shift to direct talks between Democrats and the White House. And the time would come when the White House would have to be more descriptive about what reforms it is willing to make to the agency tasked with carrying out the president’s immigration agenda.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his Senate counterpart, Chuck Schumer, expressed skepticism about the White House’s offer, saying in a joint statement that it “included neither details nor legislative text.”

“The initial GOP response is both incomplete and insufficient in terms of addressing the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct,” they added. “Democrats await additional detail and text.”

Rep. Mark Amodei said he and his House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security weren’t shown these offers. He was more pessimistic about reaching a deal by Friday’s deadline, telling reporters Monday night that he’s “sure as hell” DHS is headed for a shutdown.

“I wouldn’t be holding my breath for a bill passed out of both houses and signed by the White House by the 14th,” he said.

Amodei also acknowledged that the White House and the Senate are “the ones who are doing the talking back and forth.”

Most Senate Democrats said they had yet to review the White House’s offer on Monday night but that they’d consider voting for a short-term CR if negotiations continue to move forward.

“Let’s see how that back-and-forth goes,” Sen. Tim Kaine told reporters. “We have to look at the counterproposal to see how serious it is, and obviously the more we’ll want to work to see if we can land something. And if it’s serious and we can’t land something right away, we ought to be open to talking more.”

Kaine said that Senate Democrats would discuss their next steps at a caucus lunch on Tuesday.

Sen. Chris Murphy, the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, told reporters Monday that DHS is “out of control,” but he also said that there’s room to move forward.

“We can get a resolution this week,” Murphy said. “There’s no doubt, if they put their nose to the grindstone.”

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, also indicated some willingness to negotiate. She told reporters Monday that Democrats are supportive of backing more resources for the other agencies governed by DHS, including the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard, but want to see guardrails applied to ICE.

“It’s just lip service if they’re not willing to focus in on the lawless, reckless people who are marauding wild on our streets here,” DeLauro said. “But let’s take care of those agencies that are doing right by people.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, another appropriator, told reporters that he felt positively about ongoing conversations between Senate Democrats and the White House. Mullin called the White House’s proposal a “workable piece” and said it offers room for negotiation.

Mullin added that he’d like to see another CR in order to give negotiations over DHS funding the best chance of success. He would prefer to see funding levels extended for four to six weeks, but says he’d be open to extending funding for two weeks at a time until negotiators reach a deal.

“If we’re able to see that there’s a path forward, which hopefully the Democrats will see that there’s a path forward here, and then we’re not going to be able to iron out all the details in a few days here,” he said.

Mullin warned that if Democrats want to enact any reforms in the funding bill, they should refrain from shutting down the other agencies funded by DHS.

“It hurts negotiations a lot if they do that,” he said. “Surely cooler heads will prevail, and we’ll get another CR.”