WASHINGTON — For the fourth time this month, Senate Democrats have blocked an attempt to pass a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), leaving Transportation Security Administration agents facing the prospect of missing their paychecks this week.
On Thursday, 46 Democrats voted against a temporary funding measure aimed at supporting the DHS, which has been partially closed since February 14. They are insisting on individual spending votes for specific subagencies, excluding those involved with immigration enforcement.
Senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania stood alone among Democrats, siding with 50 Republicans in favor of the DHS funding.
Despite his support, the bill failed to reach the necessary 60 votes needed for passage.
“Fifty-eight days after passing the initial continuing resolution, [Senate Democrats] have not yet engaged in discussions with Republicans and the White House to find a viable path forward,” remarked Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) on Wednesday, highlighting her role as one of the negotiators working on the funding package.
Meanwhile, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the leading Democratic appropriator in the Senate, has emphasized that their party is still awaiting a “clear understanding” from the White House regarding the proposed reforms for DHS.
Senate Democrats have been pushing for provisions to ban federal immigration agents and officer from wearing masks while conducting enforcement actions, to require them to display identification and to wear body cameras.
They’ve also suggested agents should have to obtain judicial warrants to enter private property in pursuit of suspects.
ICE and CBP still have extra funding left over from Republicans’ massive tax-and-spending bill passed last July, meaning the Democratic opposition hasn’t directly impeded immigration enforcement yet.
Negotiations have also faltered between the parties even as 95% of TSA officers continue to clock in to work security checkpoints for airline passengers every day. Nearly 43% of their work during the 2026 fiscal year has been on furlough.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a floor speech that Republicans had twice rejected offers to separately fund just the TSA, the Cybsersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Democrats just want ICE to behave like any police department in America and use warrants and not wear masks,” Schumer noted, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as “marauding forces.”
“We know the American people are on our side. We know that the only thing Republicans need to do is stay out of the way and these programs will be funded today and problems at the airports will go away.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) countered in a debate with Schumer on the floor: “The Democrats have had multiple opportunities and will have another one today to provide funding for all of the agencies that he just mentioned.”
“There has been offers made repeatedly, the most recent of which was about 13 days ago from the White House, and the Democrats have yet to respond to it,” Thune said.
Congressional Democrats have voted against prior DHS funding bills in protest of the fatal shootings by DHS officers of Renee Good and Alex Pretti two months ago in Minnesota.
An ICE agent shot Good as she was accelerating her vehicle in his direction, while Pretti, who was armed with a handgun, was shot by two Customs and Border Protection officers during a “struggle” on the streets of Minneapolis.
Republicans have backed federal investigations of the deadly shootings, with some calling in January for the ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
President Trump announced last week that Noem would be stepping down from her role at DHS at the end of March following her apparently misleading testimony on Capitol Hill regarding an almost quarter-billion-dollar ad campaign about mass deportations.
