March 26 (UPI) — Senate Democrats blocked a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security after they could not reach terms on a bill 41 days into its shutdown.
A bill to fund all of DHS failed in the Senate for the seventh time, once again along a mostly party line vote, 53 to 47, as the Senate is expected to leave for a two-week recess that includes several members traveling outside the country, The Hill reported.
The is not expected to reconvene until April 13, but the GOP has not ruled out delaying, shortening or canceling the recess.
With the lack of action from Congress, President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he plans to declare a national emergency forcing DHS to pay TSA employees.
“I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Senate Republican majority leader John Thune, R-S.D., who’d earlier called the GOP’s latest plan “our last and final offer,” told reporters on Thursday night the executive order would temporarily relieve “the immediate pressure” on the Senate to solve the situation.
Senators actively negotiated Thursday on the DHS shutdown ahead of Friday’s deadline, which is the start of a two-week Easter recess.
Thune, also, however, kept a procedural vote open on the Senate floor to prevent requests for unanimous consent to fund only TSA as the rest of the funding bill gets worked out.
“Let’s let the Dems react to what’s out there, and hopefully we can find a pathway to drive this to the finish,” CBS News reported Thune said.
He didn’t share details of the plan, but said it’s close to what they offered earlier this week, which Democrats voted down because it didn’t create reforms for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Though recess is scheduled to start this weekend, if the Senate doesn’t agree on a funding bill, Thune said, “I suspect we’ll probably be around here.”
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said Democrats were looking at the offer, but he doesn’t think it’s enough.
“We’re talking through it right now but it’s not where we want it to be,” Kim said. “We just continue to be stuck here.”
He didn’t give details about the offer, but said, “it’s not good enough for me.”
Thune later walked back his “final offer” statement, saying that the GOP senators are willing to work with Democrats to tweak the bill.
“If there’s something that they think needs to be tweaked, one way or the other, as long as that’s a final thing, then we’ll see if it can get done,” Thune said.
“At some point they got to take yes for an answer,” Thune said.
The department has been shut down since Feb. 14 as Democrats and Republicans battle over a funding bill. Democrats don’t want to fund the department without putting some restrictions on ICE enforcement, and Republicans have agreed to some measures but not the ones on which Democrats insist.
Because of this, Transportation Security Administration workers have been working without pay for more than a month. Some are quitting or taking days off work, creating long lines at airports. Trump has sent ICE agents to some airports to help TSA agents.
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told reporters this morning that talks have increased.
“We put options in front of the Democrats, and they just need to quit backing up on us and vote to get DHS funded and TSA agents paid,” CBS reported Hoeven said.
“I’m hoping that as we get to the end of this week — you know how it works around here with deadlines — that that’s going to get us to a point where we get it done,” he said. “But we’re still working.”
Thursday morning, President Donald Trump began a Cabinet meeting by saying that Democrats are “really punishing the American people.”
“They need to end the shutdown immediately, or we’ll have to take some very drastic measures,” he said. He didn’t explain what he meant.
The only Democrat who has voted for the Republican bill was Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. Some Democrats fear that other centrists will defect and vote for the Republican bill, The Hill reported.
Some who voted to reopen the government last fall met with White House border czar Tom Homan last week, including Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; and Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats. So far, they haven’t broken with the Democrats, but there is anxiety that they will, The Hill reported.
