House fate uncertain for DHS deal
The Senate passes a DHS bill without ICE funding, leaving Speaker Johnson under pressure from conservatives backing Trump’s deportation push.
TODAY IN CONGRESS
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The Senate passed a bill shortly after 2 a.m. to fund the Department of Homeland Security—excluding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and most of Customs and Border Protection—bringing Congress one step closer to ending DHS’s 41-day shutdown, the second-longest in U.S. history and the longest partial lapse in appropriations on record.
The agreement would fund TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, while also including provisions to strengthen security at the border and at ports of entry. But it excludes the federal immigration-enforcement reforms that Hill Democrats demanded more than six weeks ago as a condition of supporting full DHS funding.
Still, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) claimed victory on the floor, arguing Democrats delivered on their promise to withhold funding from parts of the department following the January killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
“This could’ve been accomplished weeks ago if Republicans hadn’t stood in the way,” Schumer said. “I’m very proud of our Democratic caucus. Throughout it all, Senate Democrats stood united—no wavering, no backing down. We held the line.”
Schumer said Democrats would continue to push for reforms, including banning federal immigration agents from wearing masks, requiring body cameras and mandating judicial warrants for in-home deportation operations. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) signaled that those demands are no longer viable.
“They kissed that opportunity goodbye by failing to provide funding for those agencies,” Thune said.
The bill now heads to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson has strongly opposed bringing a DHS funding measure to the floor that excludes immigration enforcement dollars.
The House passed a separate measure Thursday to ensure DHS law enforcement and other critical personnel—including Border Patrol, ICE and the Coast Guard—continue to be paid during the shutdown by automatically funding salaries until a broader agreement is reached or a cutoff date hits. Four Democrats joined all voting Republicans in support. Whether that same coalition would hold on the Senate bill remains unclear.
Johnson now faces intense pressure from hardline conservatives aligned with President Donald Trump, who will view the Senate package as undercutting the administration’s mass deportation agenda. At the same time, the prolonged shutdown has led to hours-long security lines at airports nationwide, driven by staffing shortages as TSA agents call out rather than work without pay.
All of this is unfolding as Congress barrels toward a two-week recess for Easter and Passover—underscoring both the urgency of a resolution and the reality that members are eager to leave Washington.
Republicans will shift their full focus after the break to the budget reconciliation process as the vehicle to fund ICE and CBP, an approach that would allow them to bypass a filibuster but still requires near-unity among House Republicans and strict compliance with Senate rules, which limit provisions to those that primarily affect federal spending and taxes. Lawmakers used reconciliation last year to pass the sweeping domestic policy package signed by President Donald Trump, which combined tax cuts with reductions to the social safety net and major changes to border and energy policy.
Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said the budget resolution his panel is preparing to mark up will center on funding ICE and other DHS homeland security components, the U.S. military and elements of the SAVE America Act. He added that he plans to work closely with Trump and the White House in drafting—an acknowledgment of the president’s central role in locking down GOP votes on another party-line effort.
“This will be one of the most important assignments I’ve had during my time in the Senate,” Graham said Thursday. “And I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running.”
HAPPENINGS
All times Eastern.
Floor action
The House is in at 9 a.m. and will vote at 10:00 a.m. on a bill that gives the U.S. government authority to block or restrict foreign vessels from accessing American ports if their home country has seized or nationalized U.S.-owned property abroad, using maritime access as leverage to protect American economic interests. House Republican leadership has advised members that additional legislative items are possible.
The Senate is out.
Committee hearings
The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere will hold a hearing at 11 a.m. on Latin America after the fall of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
News events
Reps. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Derek Tran (D-Calif.) and Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) will hold a press conference to introduce the WARRIOR Act to codify the role of women in the military.
President Trump will speak to farmers at 12:30 p.m., then travel to Miami to speak at the Future Investment Initiative at 5:30 p.m. He will travel to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend after the remarks.
Saturday: The president will participate in a MAGA, Inc. meeting at 6:30 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m.
Sunday: Trump will return to the White House.
IN THE KNOW
— Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Dave Min (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to require DHS to turn over detailed evidence to Congress on injuries and deaths tied to immigration enforcement. The DHS Use of Force Transparency Act of 2026 would mandate disclosure of body camera footage, incident reports and other records related to officer-involved shootings and deaths in custody since early 2025. It would also require that materials be produced with minimal redactions and with clear legal justification for any withheld information. The proposal comes as Democrats raise alarms about a reported increase in use-of-force incidents involving ICE and push to expand congressional oversight of enforcement practices under President Trump.
— House Education and Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) criticized the Trump administration’s decision to transfer the Education Department’s longtime headquarters to the Department of Energy, calling it a step toward dismantling the agency without congressional approval. Scott said the move to vacate the Lyndon B. Johnson building reflects a broader effort to scale back the federal role in education, arguing it does little to reduce bureaucracy while raising questions about whether lawmakers and agency staff were properly consulted. The administration said the Education Department has sharply reduced its Washington footprint, no longer needs the space, and can save roughly $4.8 million a year by relocating.
— Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the HOME Team Act, a bill to give local communities the first chance to buy professional sports teams before they relocate and impose penalties on owners who bypass the process. It would require owners to provide one year’s notice before moving a franchise and allow cities, fan groups or public entities to purchase the team at a fair market price during that window. The proposal aims to curb relocation threats often used to secure public subsidies and preserve teams as community assets, with lawmakers pointing to past moves—from the Brooklyn Dodgers to the recent exit of the Oakland Athletics—as evidence of the economic and cultural stakes.
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