Senate Republicans are proposing a DHS shutdown deal that excludes ICE funding
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Senate Republicans have reached a Homeland Security funding bill they hope will end the shutdown.
Now, they just need Senate Democrats to agree.
The framework, created over the weekend and finalized earlier this week, will reopen and fund most of the agency, except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
It follows the first face-to-face meetings between Republicans and Democrats during the shutdown, and a last-minute meeting at the White House on Monday after President Donald Trump demanded that the GOP combine DHS funding with his landmark Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks during a press conference with Senate Republican leadership following a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 28. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., said the bill would fund most of DHS, excluding the roughly $5.5 billion earmarked for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Senate Democrats previously tried to fund everything but ICE, but were blocked by Republicans who wanted to reopen the entire DHS.
It includes the first compromises from the original bill, such as millions of body-worn cameras, but not the drastic changes that Senate Democrats wanted.
“If you won't get funding, I don't know if you will ever want changes,” said Thune.
“A lot of the reforms depend on funding ICE. And now, since the ERO office will not be funded through ICE, the Democrats have basically stopped the reforms,” he continued. “I never thought that was serious.”
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. and Senate Democrats are trying to fund everything at DHS except immigration. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Still, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats must agree on a framework before Republicans can move forward.
Schumer said on the floor of the Senate that the Republicans “are about to return to the table and are determined to reach a solution to pay” the workers of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), after Trump's demands almost derailed the progress made a few days ago.
“We are waiting for a written proposal that we will review, because right now the situation at our airports is unacceptable,” said Schumer.
Key Republicans in the Senate who were in the White House on Monday or who participated in the negotiations gathered in Thune's office to discuss the draft. They said Republicans have sent the text of the legislation to Democrats for review.
“We are ready to go,” said Sen. John Hoeven, RN.D.. “Democrats need to join us now. We've bent over backwards to negotiate with them. We've talked to the White House and people on our side, and they need to stop moving the goalposts.”
It looks like the White House is in the middle of the draft. A White House official told Fox News Digital, “Negotiations are ongoing, but the deal appears to be acceptable.”
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President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office of the White House, on St. Patrick, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Another part of the bill would fund immigration enforcement — and include parts of the SAVE America Act — through budget reconciliation. That party line nearly split Republicans last year when they passed Trump's “big, good bill.”
Not all Republicans support the plan as it stands, meaning Thune will need as many Senate Democrats as possible to reopen the agency.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told CNBC's “Squawk Box” that he is “no” to the deal, arguing that the framework “doesn't make sense to me.”
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“And this idea that it will be funded through a reconciliation package is just a dream. We will not fulfill the reconciliation package,” said Scott.
“Look at the last one – the only reason it happened is because of the tax cuts. No tax cuts this time, no pressure,” he continued.
