Senate Democrats Counter GOP Offer as DHS Shutdown Enters Weeks-Long Stalemate

The Transportation Security Administration has already lost more than 480 officers since the partial government shutdown began, and wait times at some airports have exceeded four and a half hours, the highest in TSA history. Against that backdrop, Senate Democrats on Tuesday rejected the latest Republican funding offer and sent a counteroffer of their own, keeping the Department of Homeland Security shuttered for a 40th day with no resolution in sight.

Senate Democrats rejected a new proposal from Senate Republicans, endorsed by President Trump, to fund almost all of DHS while setting aside some funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to end the partial government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters the GOP offer would fund 94% of the DHS budget while withholding $5.5 billion for ICE's deportation arm, known as Enforcement and Removal Operations.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was unequivocal after a Democratic caucus lunch. "We have to rein in ICE and stop the violence. We need reform," Schumer told reporters, adding that every member of his caucus backed both party unity and the demand for ICE reform. He signaled the counteroffer would carry teeth. "Negotiations are ongoing, and they've sent us an offer, and we'll be sending them an offer back. And I can assure you it'll contain significant reform in it," Schumer told reporters.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer described Democrats' proposal as "a reasonable, good-faith proposal that contains some of the very same asks Democrats have been talking about now for months."

The standoff is rooted in a pair of deadly shootings that shook Minneapolis earlier this year. Federal agents killed two civilian protesters, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, both U.S. citizens, during Operation Metro Surge. Democrats have demanded changes to how federal immigration enforcement operates in exchange for releasing DHS funding after the two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by DHS officers in Minneapolis.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a central figure in the talks, described the Republican proposal as inadequate. Murray said she has had "productive meetings with the White House," but that talks have been made more difficult by Trump "making new and unreasonable demands over social media," referring to Trump's demand that the Senate pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act before agreeing to a Homeland Security funding deal. "We've been very clear that if we're talking about funding any part of ICE and CBP, we absolutely must take some key steps to rein them in," Murray said. She added that meaningful change must be more than procedural: "Reforms must make it into law."

Democrats have insisted that requirements prohibiting agents from wearing masks and mandating the use of judicial warrants are "absolutely essential." Schumer put it bluntly: "They've got to get serious. The key issues of warrants when you bust in someone's house, the key issue of identity of police, no masks, they haven't budged on those."

Republicans placed the urgency squarely on Democrats. Thune said at a press conference that "Democrats have in front of them" the legislative text to reopen DHS, adding: "The time to end this is now." Thune also said "if they want reforms, then they ought to figure out how to fund, fully fund ICE," adding: "We're ready to move and it's really going to be incumbent upon them."

President Trump further complicated the path forward. Trump said at the White House Tuesday that Democrats "broke the deal that we had," and added: "Any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it."

ICE has continued functioning during the shutdown, having received tens of billions of dollars in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The agencies most severely strained are the ones that protect everyday travelers and disaster survivors. At some airports, 40 to 50 percent of the TSA workforce is calling out of work on certain days, and the agency's top official warned Congress that it may have to close smaller airports if staffing is not restored.

If a compromise is reached, it would bring to a close the shutdown that began Feb. 14 ahead of busy travel weeks for Easter and school spring breaks. With both sides now holding competing counteroffers and Trump publicly expressing doubt about any emerging deal, the prospect of a rapid resolution remained uncertain.