Negotiations between Senate Democratic leadership and the White House to fund the Department of Homeland Security are at a standstill as Congress enters its second week of a partial government shutdown.
The stalemate persists as lawmakers return to Washington ahead of President Donald Trump’s scheduled State of the Union address on Tuesday. Still, the Trump administration last week signaled the two sides are no closer to a deal, calling Democrats’ most recent proposal to fund the agency “very unserious.”
“We’ve been engaged in good faith negotiations with Democrats,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday. “Last night, they sent over a counterproposal that frankly was very unserious, and we hope they get serious very soon because Americans are going to be impacted by this.”
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Meanwhile, Democrats continued to dig their heels in throughout the recess week, reiterating demands that reforms of immigration enforcement operations be included in the DHS funding bill. And some Democrats, including Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray, announced they won’t attend Trump’s State of the Union at all. But the lack of a deal doesn’t appear to be shifting any plans for the president to deliver the address Tuesday evening.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blamed Republicans for the lack of movement.
“We’ve not seen any high-level effort coming from the president, or from House and Senate Republican leaders,” Jeffries said on Wednesday. “We have no idea where they’re at, in the midst of a crisis of their own making.”
Democrats first demanded that restrictions on immigration enforcement operations be included in the DHS funding bill after two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis last month. Though the White House announced last week that it was ending its surge of agents in the city, Democrats said those commitments were not enough. They demanded a series of changes, including requirements for judicial warrants and limits on mask-wearing and an end to roving patrols.
Jeffries warned that any measure that does not include those restrictions will not receive votes from Democrats. Any bill to advance a funding measure in the Senate needs 60 votes, requiring some bipartisan support.
“It’s our view that immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, should be just and should be humane,” Jeffries said. “That’s why ICE needs to be reformed in a dramatic, bold, meaningful and transformational manner. If that doesn’t happen, the DHS funding bill will not move forward.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also reiterated Democrats’ commitment to blocking any funding bill without the reforms demanded by Democrats.
“This is why we’re not giving DHS a cent until ICE is reined in — including use of force standards to which they can be held accountable,” Schumer wrote on X Wednesday, attaching a video of a U.S. citizen who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Though Republicans in Congress are leaving the details on the negotiations to the White House, many GOP lawmakers said that talks about reforming immigration enforcement should not affect funding for DHS. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, wrote in a Fox News opinion on Thursday that those conversations should be happening separately from the funding bill.
“Shutting down or hamstringing an agency of DHS’ size and importance does not make oversight easier,” Capito said. “It does not strengthen accountability. And it certainly does not solve a single challenge we face at our borders or inside our communities.”
Rep. Steve Womack, an appropriator, echoed Capito on Friday, urging Democrats to accept provisions to rein in ICE that were already included in the House-passed DHS funding bill. Womack emphasized that the bill was negotiated on a bipartisan basis and includes a requirement for body cameras.
“The DHS funding bill they opposed was the result of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations and included resources for ICE body‑worn cameras and deescalation training,” Womack wrote in a post on X.
“Democrats claim they want to target ICE and [Customs and Border Protection], but those agencies will continue operating without interruption thanks to [One Big Beautiful Bill Act] funding,” he added. “The real impact of this shutdown falls on TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and other critical agencies.”
Sen. Katie Britt, the chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security, also emphasized on Friday that ICE and Customs and Border Protection are unaffected by the shutdown and will continue to operate as usual.
“Daily reminder that Democrats blocked funding for HOMELAND SECURITY including the Coast Guard, Secret Service, and TSA,” Britt wrote on X. “ICE and CBP are still funded and will continue to deport criminal illegal aliens.”
As both sides of the negotiation continue to report little momentum, Jeffries told reporters that he expects the next step in these conversations to come from the Trump administration.
“The ball is back in the court of the White House,” Jeffries said. “Because they have our most recent response. And we await reaction from them.”
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