Trump outburst sends Senate back to drawing boards for DHS deal – Roll Call

## Summary
Hoping to find a bipartisan fix for ending a one-month partial shutdown, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., asked Trump to consider a plan that would allow Congress to pass full-year funding for the beleaguered department except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Democrats would get a key piece of what they’ve been angling for: full-year funding for critical agencies like the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, while ICE would have to wait until there’s a bipartisan deal on immigration enforcement policies. Thune’s proposal, first reported by Punchbowl News, included a key difference: Republicans could provide ICE funding through a second filibuster-proof reconciliation bill to enact more partisan policies, and without the immigration enforcement overhaul Democrats have been seeking. The source said that while Republicans had proposed meeting Saturday, Democrats asked for a later meeting to have more time to review the GOP offer and have the “most constructive conversation possible.” Recent Stories Supreme Court sounds ready to limit counts of late-arriving ballots Capitol Lens | Running on fumes Week ahead: Senate SAVE and shutdown ‘show’ continues Trump outburst sends Senate back to drawing boards for DHS deal Trump delays some US strikes in Iran for five days amid new round of talks Future of vaccine panel unclear as member calls out HHS official

## Article Content
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., talks with reporters after the Senate luncheons in the Capitol on Feb. 3. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
By
Paul M. Krawzak
and
Aris Folley
Posted March 23, 2026 at 3:17pm
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An attempt by Senate GOP leaders to reopen the Department of Homeland Security while punting on immigration enforcement funding blew up within hours, after President Donald Trump issued an angry rejection of the proposal Sunday night.
Hoping to find a bipartisan fix for ending a one-month partial shutdown, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., asked Trump to consider a plan that would allow Congress to pass full-year funding for the beleaguered department except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Democrats would get a key piece of what they’ve been angling for: full-year funding for critical agencies like the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, while ICE would have to wait until there’s a bipartisan deal on immigration enforcement policies.
Democrats have also demanded to drop Customs and Border Protection from the package and negotiate that separately along with ICE; it wasn’t immediately clear whether CBP was addressed in Thune’s offer.
Thune’s proposal, first reported by Punchbowl News, included a key difference: Republicans could provide ICE funding through a second filibuster-proof reconciliation bill to enact more partisan policies, and without the immigration enforcement overhaul Democrats have been seeking. At minimum, Democrats wouldn’t have to cast politically difficult votes to fund ICE.
This is a strategy that some Senate Republicans have been floating in recent days to break the logjam, as airport wait times across the country get worse. Nearly 12 percent of the TSA security workforce, which isn’t getting paid during the partial shutdown, called out of work on Saturday, according to the agency.
Houston’s two main airports, William P. Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental, had the nation’s highest callout rates at over 40 percent each, according to published reports. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has been among those calling to split out immigration enforcement agencies and fund them separately via reconciliation if it would mean a quick deal to reopen TSA and the rest of DHS.
No deal without ‘SAVE’
But within hours of learning of the plan, Trump rejected it in a broadside against both parties on his Truth Social media platform, where he reverted to his push for a controversial voter ID bill that would require proof of U.S. citizenship, through a birth certificate or passport, to register to vote.
“I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump wrote.
Trump suggested a punt on ICE funding would amount to a $5 billion cut, which he said he could support only if it were packaged with the voter ID bill. He also has sought to expand that bill to include abolishing mail-in voting, prohibiting transgender people in women’s sports and barring transgender surgeries for children.
Targeting his own party, Trump said, “Put it all together, and also, let Leader Thune clearly identify those few ‘Republicans’ that are Voting against AMERICA. They will never be elected again!”
The voter ID bill, which consumed the attention of the Senate in a rare weekend session, stands almost no chance of becoming law. Democrats have vowed to oppose it, saying it risked disenfranchising millions of Americans who lack a birth certificate or passport and would be unable to vote.
Trump’s rejection of Thune’s attempt at compromise means lawmakers are going back to the drawing boards to find a way out of the homeland security standoff.
Republicans were waiting for a response to their most recent offer, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Sunday. She said Democrats had canceled a Saturday meeting where Republicans had expected to see a counteroffer.
Democrats have asked Republicans to meet Monday, a Democratic source familiar with the conversations said. The source said that while Republicans had proposed meeting Saturday, Democrats asked for a later meeting to have more time to review the GOP offer and have the “most constructive conversation possible.”
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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- At minimum, Democrats wouldn’t have to cast politically difficult votes to fund ICE.
- The source said that while Republicans had proposed meeting Saturday, Democrats asked for a later meeting to have more time to review the GOP offer and have the “most constructive conversation possible.” Recent Stories Supreme Court sounds ready to limit counts of late-arriving ballots Capitol Lens | Running on fumes Week ahead: Senate SAVE and shutdown ‘show’ continues Trump outburst sends Senate back to drawing boards for DHS deal Trump delays some US strikes in Iran for five days amid new round of talks Future of vaccine panel unclear as member calls out HHS official

### Implications
- Thune’s proposal, first reported by Punchbowl News, included a key difference: Republicans could provide ICE funding through a second filibuster-proof reconciliation bill to enact more partisan policies, and without the immigration enforcement overhaul Democrats have been seeking.
- No deal without ‘SAVE’ But within hours of learning of the plan, Trump rejected it in a broadside against both parties on his Truth Social media platform, where he reverted to his push for a controversial voter ID bill that would require proof of U.S. citizenship, through a birth certificate or passport, to register to vote. “I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump wrote.
- Trump suggested a punt on ICE funding would amount to a $5 billion cut, which he said he could support only if it were packaged with the voter ID bill.
- They will never be elected again!” The voter ID bill, which consumed the attention of the Senate in a rare weekend session, stands almost no chance of becoming law.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers senate, trump, democrats topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 755.