DHS shutdown all but guaranteed as Democrats balk at White House budget offer

WASHINGTON (CN) — The Department of Homeland Security is all but doomed to shut down this week, as lawmakers on Capitol Hill remained at an impasse on legislation that would ensure the agency’s funding for the rest of the fiscal year.

And though the duration of such an appropriations lapse remains unclear, Democrats and Republicans are still far apart on how to address demands for drastic reforms to U.S. immigration enforcement operations.

Friday is the last day for Senate lawmakers to reach a deal to fund DHS, as a stopgap budget that’s kept the agency’s programs afloat for the last two weeks is due to expire. Democrats successfully pushed for the spending patch last month amid the Trump administration’s deadly immigration crackdown in Minnesota — arguing that they would not consider any legislation to fund Homeland Security that didn’t reform Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But while they acquiesced to a short-term budget fix, Senate Republicans have largely panned Democrats’ proposed reforms as nonstarters. And, after the White House sent its own counteroffer to the Senate Wednesday night, Democrats complained that the Trump administration’s proposal was “unserious.”

“The White House’s response shows they’re not serious about reform,” Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen told reporters at the Capitol Thursday.

“I haven’t seen any evidence that they’re really dealing with what’s essential here, and that is to stop stomping on the Constitution,” Oregon Senator Ron Wyden told Courthouse News.

And Michigan Senator Gary Peters said Republicans should relent and agree to what he said were “common-sense” reforms. “They’re the ones who will decide whether there’s a shutdown, not us,” he added.

Among their demands, Democrats have said any DHS funding bill include language that requires federal immigration agents to use body-worn cameras and remove masks that conceal their identities. They’ve also backed a provision that would require immigration authorities to acquire judicial warrants before entering homes and another that would block agents from conducting enforcement activities in “sensitive” locations such as schools and hospitals.

“We want to enforce some rules of the road, similar to local police,” said Van Hollen. “They want to be able to indiscriminately pick people up. They’re not serious about it.”

It’s unclear exactly what the White House offered Senate Democrats in their counterproposal. But Democratic leaders were universally critical. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters his initial thoughts about the Trump offer were that it “falls short.” And Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz, leading negotiations in the Senate, said on social media that the plan “falls short substantively.”

Republicans, meanwhile, have urged Democrats to support another two-week funding extension for DHS while negotiations continue.

“We are working in good faith to find a pathway forward,” Alabama Senator Katie Britt said on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon. “What we’re asking is, let us continue to do that. We’re asking for the exact same thing that we had two weeks ago.”

Britt argued that DHS and the Trump administration were making progress on some of Democrats’ demands, pointing to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s recent decree that more federal agents would wear body cameras and White House border czar Tom Homan’s announcement Thursday morning that the administration would end its immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.

“We stand here today to say we are operating in good faith,” said the Alabama Republican. “We’ve continued to move the ball forward. Let’s keep talking, let’s keep working — don’t let anyone miss a paycheck.”

But Democrats have already ruled out another funding extension for DHS. “Democrats have been very clear,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. “We will not support an extension of the status quo.”

Democrats on Thursday afternoon blocked a request from Britt to approve a two-week funding extension for DHS on a voice vote. The Senate also failed to pass a procedural motion to move ahead with a House-passed spending bill for the agency.

If the Senate and the White House fail to reach an eleventh-hour deal on Homeland Security funding, the resulting appropriations lapse would affect all programs under the agency’s umbrella, including the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

ICE and Border Patrol may experience muted impacts from a shutdown — Congress handed immigration enforcement a $75 billion cash injection last summer as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

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