FINALLY

Senate Republicans Buck Trump to Reach DHS Funding Deal

The president had demanded that any funding agreement be accompanied by a new voter restriction law.

Senate Republicans defied President Donald Trump to reach a deal with Democrats to partially fund the Department of Homeland Security. The president had demanded that any funding agreement tied to the passage of the SAVE America Act, which would introduce sweeping new voting restrictions threatening to disenfranchise millions of voters. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that strategy was “not realistic” and reached a deal with Democrats to to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, except for ICE and Border Patrol. The agreement represented an about-face for Republicans, who for weeks had rejected similar offers from Democrats. But with travelers in major airports facing hours-long waits as Transportation Security Administration agents quit or called in sick, Republican senators abruptly reversed course. ICE had already received several years’ worth of funding under President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful” spending law, but Republicans wanted to add billions more in regular funding. They still plan to try to add that money through another budget process. Democrats have said any new funding must be tied to immigration enforcement reforms, including requiring ICE agents to follow the same standards as other law enforcement agents, such as displaying their names and obtaining judicial warrants to enter homes, as required by the Constitution.