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Senate Republicans have landed on a funding framework for Homeland Security that they hope will end the shutdown.
Now, they just need Senate Democrats to agree.
The framework, which was developed over the weekend and finalized early this week, would 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, as well as a last-minute meeting at the White House on Monday after President Donald Trump demanded that the GOP combine DHS funding with his prized 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, D.C., on October 28. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the framework would fund most of DHS, except for roughly $5.5 billion designated for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Senate Democrats previously tried to fund everything except for ICE, but were blocked by Republicans who desired to reopen the entirety of DHS.
It also includes initial compromises from the original bill, such as millions for body-worn cameras, but not the stricter reforms Senate Democrats had demanded.
“If you’re not going to have funding, I don’t know how all of a sudden you can demand reforms,” Thune said.
“A lot of the reforms are contingent on funding for ICE. And now, since the ERO office is not going to be funded through ICE, Democrats have basically given up on reforms,” he continued. “I never thought that was serious.”
DHS SHUTDOWN TIED FOR SECOND-LONGEST EVER AS DEMS AGAIN BLOCK FUNDING AMID AIRPORT CHAOS, TERRORISM CONCERNS
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Senate Democrats are trying…
