Senate Democrats blocked a Department of Homeland Security funding for a second time Tuesday, underscoring a shutdown stalemate now in its second week.
Senators voted 50-45 to advance a House-passed DHS bill in their first action on funding for the department since a partial government shutdown started Feb. 14. The bill needed 60 votes to move forward.
President Donald Trump will use part of his State of the Union speech Tuesday evening to encourage Democrats to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. But with lawmakers just returning to Washington from a weeklong recess, the talks appear to have almost entirely stalled.
“We’ve heard crickets from them, nothing,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Tuesday. “They’re not negotiating. They’re just trying to pass paper back and forth with no real changes.”
There’s currently no meeting scheduled between congressional leaders and Trump to talk about the funding fight, which disproportionately impacts nonimmigration agencies such as TSA and the Coast Guard. With talks going slowly, there’s no expectation that a deal to end the partial shutdown is reached this week, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss the private negotiations.
Democrats have vowed to oppose DHS funding until they get changes to Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. Democrats have outlined more than a dozen changes that they want, including banning masks for federal agents, requiring them to obtain judicial warrants to search private property and requiring independent investigations of agent misconduct.
Despite the partial shutdown, Trump’s immigration agencies have funding under the party-line megabill Republicans passed last year. But Democrats believe they have public opinion on their side due to the political backlash over Trump’s immigration tactics, which have also sparked unease among some Republican lawmakers.
Democrats gave their latest counteroffer to the White House last week. Asked about a possible White House response, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview Tuesday that the talks are now more “informal,” with the parties “just kind of going back and forth and trying to hit the landing spot.”
