GOP leaders clash over DHS funding as shutdown stretches on

House Republicans snubbed a bipartisan funding deal cut by their own Senate GOP counterparts and instead approved an entirely different plan, prolonging the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

Objective Facts

The 42-day shutdown has hobbled airports across the country with TSA shortages. In a 213-203 vote, Speaker Mike Johnson and his House Republicans voted Friday night to effectively jam the Senate with their plan, fully funding DHS for eight weeks – including with border and immigration money that the prior deal left out. In a voice vote overnight into Friday, the Senate approved a bill that would reopen most of DHS but exclude funding for ICE and parts of Customs and Border Protection. Senate Democrats did not secure most of the reforms to federal immigration enforcement they demanded, but hailed the Senate-approved measure as a win. Both chambers of Congress are now out on a two-week recess. Trump has ordered TSA workers be paid, regardless of what Congress does. Johnson insists that Trump is on board with the House's plan, and that he plans to alleviate TSA's staffing woes by paying workers directly through executive order.

Left-Leaning Perspective

Left-leaning outlets and Democratic leaders framed the Senate bill as a major victory and blamed House Republicans for obstruction. House Democrats robustly backed the Senate plan, which was similar to a partial DHS funding measure they have been pushing for weeks. Importantly for Democrats, the Senate bill does not include money for Border Patrol, which was a major sticking point in previous talks. Chuck Schumer said that the House GOP's short-term funding bill would be "dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it." Democrats have rallied behind the Senate agreement, arguing it protects key agencies while blocking expanded immigration enforcement funding. "This is a win," Rep. Maxine Dexter of Oregon wrote. "Democrats have successfully stopped any new funding for ICE and CBP while funding the rest of the Department of Homeland Security, including TSA." Democratic arguments centered on the precedent of not funding agencies without guardrails and protecting workers. "Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump's rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor. The latest Senate package would have allowed Democrats in that chamber to fund operations like TSA, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, while still pressing for additional guardrails on immigration enforcement officers. Democratic messaging presented a narrative of standing firm against executive overreach while GOP House leaders blocked a reasonable compromise. The idea of sending a bill to an empty Senate chamber was not overlooked by House Democratic leaders, who accused Johnson of promoting a strategy that was designed to prolong the partial shutdown. "They know this is a continuation of the shutdown because the Senate is gone," [they argued]. The left notably omitted that ICE had $75 billion in pre-funded cash and was operating largely uninterrupted.

Right-Leaning Perspective

Right-leaning outlets and House Republican leaders presented the Senate bill as a betrayal negotiated in darkness without House buy-in. It's an act of defiance by House GOP leaders, who insist they didn't agree to Senate Majority Leader John Thune's middle-of-the-night agreement that withheld funding for border patrol or immigration enforcement. Johnson told reporters he "wouldn't call John Thune the engineer of this," and argued that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had forced the Senate-passed funding legislation onto the chamber. But in reality, Thune and GOP staff had spent hours drafting the text of the bill, which finally passed the Senate in the early morning hours of Friday with no roll call vote or chance to debate it. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer criticized the Senate for passing the bill "at 3 a.m. in the morning, when Americans are sleeping, and the news is not necessarily focused on it." Republican arguments rested on preventing a precedent of piecemeal funding and protecting ICE's authority. Conservative Republicans were adamant against establishing a precedent that allows Congress during the yearly appropriations process to fund some agencies within Homeland Security, but not others. "We will fully fund ICE. That is what this fight is about," Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Freedom Caucus member said: "I'm so proud of speaker Mike Johnson and leader Steve Scalise, with Tom Emmer, Chairwoman Lisa McClain, in taking this hard stance." Trump made it clear that he blames Democrats for the weekslong shutdown. "I have spent the better part of this year trying to get these criminals out and the Democrats want to have them come in," he told reporters. Right-leaning coverage emphasized Trump's leadership and the dangers of Democratic obstruction. President Donald Trump was not happy with a bill the Senate passed overnight to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, saying in an interview that any legislation on DHS spending needs to fund federal immigration enforcement. The president said Democrats "want no protection of any kind to be given, reopening our borders and stopping all immigration enforcement in our country." Conservative outlets did not meaningfully engage with Democratic concerns about ICE practices following the Minneapolis deaths.

Deep Dive

The March 27 clash exposed a Republican Party fractured between institutional chambers and ideological blocs, not simply divided along partisan lines. Senate Majority Leader Thune negotiated with Democrats for weeks because his chamber's arithmetic—needing 60 votes to pass anything—forced him to seek Democratic support. Thune had a tightrope to walk when it comes to spending bills. Thune needs Democrats to fund anything related to DHS hence why he engaged in weeks-long negotiations with them over reforms to ICE. By Friday morning, he had secured a deal funding most DHS agencies except ICE/Border Patrol—neither new spending nor new reform, but a temporary reprieve. House Speaker Johnson, by contrast, faced only GOP defiance and could bypass Democrats with a narrow majority. Johnson has been able to sit out of those talks but then found himself facing internal pressures from his conservatives not to get behind the Senate bill, a pressure that he yielded to Friday. When Thune's deal arrived, the House Freedom Caucus and Trump opposed it immediately, and Johnson chose to align with his insurgent right flank rather than take the Senate's bipartisan win. What each side got right and missed: Republicans accurately noted the shutdown was driven by Democratic demands for ICE reforms Democrats ultimately didn't secure—the Senate bill included zero new restrictions on ICE tactics. They were also correct that ICE had $75 billion in pre-funded cash and was operating. But they failed to acknowledge that Trump's police killed two Americans in Minneapolis in separate incidents, a legitimate flashpoint for opposition. Democrats correctly identified the precedent risk: accepting split funding could enable future Congresses to defund portions of any agency, undercutting agency authority and executive operations. But they failed to articulate a path to ICE reforms short of holding the entire department hostage, and Democratic senators' own internal divisions—some willing to accept the Senate bill, others pushing for more—suggested they lacked clear leverage or endgame. Privately, some GOP lawmakers and senior aides acknowledge they are pushing the party into even more treacherous political territory, with no clear plan to force Senate Democrats to accept their version of the bill and no certainty that Trump's maneuver to unilaterally pay Transportation Security Administration employees will work either. But others told CNN that there is so much anger within the House GOP that party leaders have no choice but to fight back against what they see as a massive win for Democrats. What comes next: The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate, which will not return until April 13. Trump's TSA payment may reduce immediate pressure from travelers, removing the key lever both sides had to force a deal. The long DHS shutdown, which hit Day 42 on Friday, is destined for the record books. The shutdown will likely persist into April unless a dramatic reversal occurs—either House GOP members pressure Johnson to bring the Senate bill to a vote, or a new negotiation begins after recess. The deeper issue is unresolved: whether Democrats will ever accept ICE funding without legislative guardrails, and whether Republicans will budge on precedent or invest political capital in a reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement alone.

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GOP leaders clash over DHS funding as shutdown stretches on

House Republicans snubbed a bipartisan funding deal cut by their own Senate GOP counterparts and instead approved an entirely different plan, prolonging the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

Mar 27, 2026· Updated Mar 29, 2026
What's Going On

The 42-day shutdown has hobbled airports across the country with TSA shortages. In a 213-203 vote, Speaker Mike Johnson and his House Republicans voted Friday night to effectively jam the Senate with their plan, fully funding DHS for eight weeks – including with border and immigration money that the prior deal left out. In a voice vote overnight into Friday, the Senate approved a bill that would reopen most of DHS but exclude funding for ICE and parts of Customs and Border Protection. Senate Democrats did not secure most of the reforms to federal immigration enforcement they demanded, but hailed the Senate-approved measure as a win. Both chambers of Congress are now out on a two-week recess. Trump has ordered TSA workers be paid, regardless of what Congress does. Johnson insists that Trump is on board with the House's plan, and that he plans to alleviate TSA's staffing woes by paying workers directly through executive order.

Left says: Schumer said he was proud of Democrats who "held the line" on their objection to funding ICE and CBP without reforms. "Democrats held firm in our position that Donald Trump's rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms and we will continue to fight for those reforms," he said. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries argued that House Republicans are the "only thing" standing between a deal. "MAGA extremists in the House of Representatives continue to inflict pain on the American people," he said.
Right says: Johnson said "We're not going to split apart two of the most important agencies in the government and leave them hanging like that. We just couldn't do it." The conservative House Freedom Caucus came out against the Senate passed DHS funding bill, with Chair Andy Harris decrying the decision to advance the bill without money for ICE. "We can't believe that the Senate abdicated its responsibility this morning of not funding the child sex-trafficking investigation division of ICE, that they didn't fund the border patrol," he said.
✓ Common Ground
Some divisions, like ICE, have continued to function thanks to about $75 billion provided by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans passed last summer. This means both sides could acknowledge ICE was not actually running out of money, even if they disagreed on whether new appropriations were necessary.
Multiple voices across the aisle recognized the shutdown's toll on TSA workers and airports. The DHS funding lapse forced tens of thousands of employees to work without pay or quit, and resulted in long waits at some airports amid peak spring break travel. Ha Nguyen McNeill, the TSA acting administrator, told lawmakers at a hearing on Wednesday that absences are as high as 40% in some airports and more than 480 TSA officers have quit during the shutdown.
Johnson's sharp criticism of the Senate bill during his press conference Friday revealed a widening gulf between how Johnson and Thune are managing their chambers and contending with very different political pressures ahead of the midterm election. Up to this point, the GOP leaders have maintained a close working relationship as they sought to pass the president's signature tax bill last summer. But in recent weeks, their paths have sharply diverged. Even Republicans acknowledged internal GOP divisions were deeper than the partisan divide.
Some Republicans voiced private concern about optics. Rep. Ann Wagner urged GOP leadership to "take yes for an answer," arguing that not doing so would put the GOP in "jeopardy." Rep. Carlos Gimenez warned that if Republicans move ahead with Johnson's plan, "in the end," the House GOP would "end up owning this shutdown." Rep. Barrett echoed: "We are going to suffer the blame." This reflected concern across both parties that prolonging the shutdown could hurt GOP credibility.
Objective Deep Dive

The March 27 clash exposed a Republican Party fractured between institutional chambers and ideological blocs, not simply divided along partisan lines. Senate Majority Leader Thune negotiated with Democrats for weeks because his chamber's arithmetic—needing 60 votes to pass anything—forced him to seek Democratic support. Thune had a tightrope to walk when it comes to spending bills. Thune needs Democrats to fund anything related to DHS hence why he engaged in weeks-long negotiations with them over reforms to ICE. By Friday morning, he had secured a deal funding most DHS agencies except ICE/Border Patrol—neither new spending nor new reform, but a temporary reprieve. House Speaker Johnson, by contrast, faced only GOP defiance and could bypass Democrats with a narrow majority. Johnson has been able to sit out of those talks but then found himself facing internal pressures from his conservatives not to get behind the Senate bill, a pressure that he yielded to Friday. When Thune's deal arrived, the House Freedom Caucus and Trump opposed it immediately, and Johnson chose to align with his insurgent right flank rather than take the Senate's bipartisan win.

What each side got right and missed: Republicans accurately noted the shutdown was driven by Democratic demands for ICE reforms Democrats ultimately didn't secure—the Senate bill included zero new restrictions on ICE tactics. They were also correct that ICE had $75 billion in pre-funded cash and was operating. But they failed to acknowledge that Trump's police killed two Americans in Minneapolis in separate incidents, a legitimate flashpoint for opposition. Democrats correctly identified the precedent risk: accepting split funding could enable future Congresses to defund portions of any agency, undercutting agency authority and executive operations. But they failed to articulate a path to ICE reforms short of holding the entire department hostage, and Democratic senators' own internal divisions—some willing to accept the Senate bill, others pushing for more—suggested they lacked clear leverage or endgame. Privately, some GOP lawmakers and senior aides acknowledge they are pushing the party into even more treacherous political territory, with no clear plan to force Senate Democrats to accept their version of the bill and no certainty that Trump's maneuver to unilaterally pay Transportation Security Administration employees will work either. But others told CNN that there is so much anger within the House GOP that party leaders have no choice but to fight back against what they see as a massive win for Democrats.

What comes next: The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate, which will not return until April 13. Trump's TSA payment may reduce immediate pressure from travelers, removing the key lever both sides had to force a deal. The long DHS shutdown, which hit Day 42 on Friday, is destined for the record books. The shutdown will likely persist into April unless a dramatic reversal occurs—either House GOP members pressure Johnson to bring the Senate bill to a vote, or a new negotiation begins after recess. The deeper issue is unresolved: whether Democrats will ever accept ICE funding without legislative guardrails, and whether Republicans will budge on precedent or invest political capital in a reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement alone.

◈ Tone Comparison

Republicans used urgent, almost angry language—"joke," "gambit," "betrayal," "lunatics"—treating the situation as a crisis requiring confrontation. Democrats used principled language—"held the line," "serious reforms," "deadly militia"—framing it as a moral stand. Both sides accused the other of bad faith: Republicans said Democrats wanted "an issue" not "a solution"; Democrats said Republicans were inflicting pain through obstruction. The rhetorical gulf was vast, with little acknowledgment of the other side's constraints or legitimate concerns.

✕ Key Disagreements
Whether funding should be split between agencies
Left: Sen. Chris Murphy, a senior Democrat, said he believed funding DHS without that money for ICE enforcement would be the "easiest way" forward. "Let's keep working on ICE [reforms] and let's open everything else up," Murphy said. Democrats argued partial funding was pragmatic and allowed TSA to operate immediately while negotiations continued.
Right: Conservative Republicans were adamant against establishing a precedent that allows Congress during the yearly appropriations process to fund some agencies within Homeland Security, but not others. Republicans viewed split funding as a dangerous precedent that undermined executive authority and ICE operations.
Whether ICE requires legislative reforms before additional funding
Left: He and other Democrats said the Republican offer they received earlier Tuesday fell short because it did not include Democrats' demanded reforms to ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), such as requiring federal immigration officers to obtain judicial warrants and prohibiting federal agents from wearing masks.
Right: GOP leaders have made clear Democrats can't seek reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they're unwilling to fund the agency. "If you are not going to have funding, I don't know how all of a sudden you can demand reforms," Thune told reporters Tuesday.
Responsibility for the impasse
Left: Democrats repeatedly pointed out that, for all the outrage that House Republicans mustered against the Senate deal late Friday night, every GOP senator supported the agreement just hours earlier. With the House GOP refusing to put the Senate bill up for a vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries argued that House Republicans are the "only thing" standing between a deal.
Right: "We could be standing here right now passing a funding bill with a list of reforms if Democrats had made the smallest effort to actually reach an agreement, but they didn't," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the floor early Friday morning. "It is now clear to everyone that Democrats didn't actually want a solution, they wanted an issue."
Trump's executive order to pay TSA workers—legitimacy and significance
Left: It was not immediately clear where that money would come from — and whether such a move was legal. Democrats questioned whether Trump had authority to unilaterally redirect funds without Congress.
Right: Trump has ordered TSA workers be paid, regardless of what Congress does. Johnson insists that Trump is on board with the House's plan, and that he plans to alleviate TSA's staffing woes by paying workers directly through executive order. Republicans viewed Trump's action as a necessary workaround and proof of executive competence.