With just two days before Congress is set to leave town for a two-week recess, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding negotiations on Wednesday appeared to have stalled with no signs of progress and both Democrats and Republicans blaming each other.
Airport security lines continue to grow around the country as large numbers of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, working without pay due to the partial shutdown, call out.
On Friday, tens of thousands of agency workers, including Transportation Security On Friday, tens of thousands of DHS workers, including TSA officers, will again not get paid.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer walks out of the chamber to speak with reporters about a proposal to end the Homeland Security budget stalemate, at the Capitol, March 24, 2026.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Democrats are dug in, saying that any deal to fund all of DHS needs to include reforms to rein in ICE. Congressional Republicans have attempted to answer that by offering up a deal to fund all of DHS security except for ICE enforcement operations. But neither Democrats nor President Donald Trump has been willing to fully embrace that proposal. The president has been noncommittal about signing any deal that does not fund all of DHS.
A procedural vote on whether to move forward with a Republican DHS funding package failed to advance Wednesday afternoon by a vote of 54-46, falling short of the 60 votes it needed to advance.
The GOP proposal would have funded all of DHS except for immigration enforcement actions. But Democrats objected to the proposal because they want additional reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote in favor of moving the proposal forward along with all Republicans. All other Democrats voted against it.
Democrats have repeatedly attempted to provide standalone funding for TSA and other agencies while the debate over ICE reform continues. But Republicans have repeatedly blocked those efforts. Democrats say they intend to continue bringing forward efforts to fund TSA.
Senate Republican scrambled unsuccessfully on Tuesday to get President Donald Trump on board with their proposal and Democrats rejected it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on the Senate floor Wednesday that Democrats had put forward a counteroffer to the GOP proposal. He said the GOP bid was made in “bad faith” because it did not address reforms to ICE that Democrats have long been demanding.
Democrats are blocking DHS funding and demanding ICE reforms following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis.
“These are reforms the American people overwhelmingly support, and things that Republicans know perfectly well we have been seeking since these negotiations began, since these discussions began as well,” Schumer said on the Senate flor Wednesday morning. “So for Republicans to now act as though Democrats have changed our position, as though we’ve moved the goalposts, is poppycock, bad faith.”
Details of the Democratic counteroffer have not been made available, but a person familiar with the negotiations confirmed that Democrats sent legislative text to Republicans for review.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, March 24, 2026.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune quickly dismissed the Democrats’ offer.
“It’s not even close to being real. They know better. They’re asking for things that have already been turned down. So it just seems like they’re just going in circles, spinning and spinning,” Thune said. “This is another example of Democrats not being serious.”
On Tuesday, Democrats rejected the GOP offer to fund other aspects of DHS besides ICE — a move that angered Thune and frustrated Republicans who said that Democrats have attempted to advance similar piecemeal offers in recent days.
The offer Republicans put forward would strip ICE funding from the appropriations package, therefore rendering negotiations over ICE reform somewhat moot, Republicans have argued. Asked if he would support a deal that would fund everything in DHS except ICE operations, Trump said he’s “pretty much not happy” with any deal to reopen DHS.
ICE has money to continue its operations, following a $75 billion cash infusion over five years in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that Trump signed into law last summer. ICE agents continue to be paid, while their other DHS colleagues are not.
“Democrats have repeatedly said that they want to pay TSA, Coast Guard, FEMA and employees who defend America from cyber attacks. This bill would do it,” Thune said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Thune sounded exasperated as he told journalists, “I don’t know what else you can do.”
Democrats are expected to again put forward an effort to unanimously fund TSA as the shutdown continues to sow chaos at the nation’s airports. That effort has been repeatedly rejected by Republicans who want to keep negotiations focused on funding all of DHS.
Schumer pointed fingers at Republicans for lines at TSA, saying that Democrats “have told Republicans just support TSA while we settle these disputes with ICE, and they have refused nine times.”
“The way to pass TSA is to vote to send their paychecks now, while we settle this dispute regarding ICE,” Schumer said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt continued to pin the blame for the partial shutdown on Democrats, saying they “want this chaos.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during a news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, March 25, 2026 in Washington.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“President Trump’s position is very clear. He wants the federal government opened. He wants the Department of Homeland Security funded, and he wants the Democrat shutdown to end immediately,” Leavitt said on Wednesday.
Lawmakers are set to begin their two-week recess on Friday after Trump encouraged Republicans to stay in town to hammer out a deal, saying earlier this week, “Don’t worry about Easter, going home.”
While it’s not yet clear if lawmakers will stick around to negotiate, Leavitt criticized Democrats who are set to being their recess.
“I hear that Democrats might be flying out of town tomorrow,” she said. “How convenient and lovely of them that they get to go to the airport, and that they’ll get to go home to their families when you have families, TSA workers, who are suffering, you have people across the country who are missing flights for funerals and for work commitments because of Democrat politicians on Capitol Hill.”