On Sunday evening, President Trump firmly stated his stance against any proposal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security unless it includes the passage of the SAVE America Act, which aims to tighten federal election voting requirements.
Expressing his viewpoint on Truth Social, Trump declared, “We shouldn’t strike any deals with the Radical Left Democrats unless they align with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.’ This is far more crucial than any other Senate dealings, including any proposed Five Billion Dollar cut in ICE funding, which I find unacceptable unless it includes Voter I.D. with photo, Citizenship to Vote, restrictions on Mail-In Voting with exceptions, All Paper Ballots, and restrictions on men in women’s sports, among others.”
As the House and Senate are poised to leave Washington D.C. for the Easter and Passover recess, Trump urged Senate Republicans to consider bypassing the 60-vote legislative filibuster, urging them to remain in the capital over Easter if necessary.
At the age of 79, Trump voiced his concerns as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were being dispatched to several airports nationwide. These agents are stepping in to support Transportation Security Administration personnel who have been working without pay since the Department of Homeland Security’s shutdown commenced on February 14.
In a brief conversation with NewsNation on Sunday afternoon, Trump emphasized his resolve, indicating his willingness to keep ICE agents stationed at the country’s airports “for as long as it takes” to resolve the situation.
In a brief phone interview with NewsNation Sunday afternoon, Trump said he was willing to keep ICE agents in America’s air travel hubs “for as long as it takes.”
“Now that I did this, the Democrats want to make a deal,” he claimed to correspondent Hannah Brandt. “And I don’t think any deal should be made on this until they approve SAVE America. OK? So, you have a scoop.”
Negotiations are underway on Capitol Hill to try and hammer out an agreement to reopen DHS and prevent the shutdown from extending past the two-month mark, but little progress had been made before Trump’s Sunday comments.
“We’ll see if they can land something,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told Politico Sunday morning. “I think the clock’s ticking. If we’re going to get this done, we’ve got to get moving pretty quickly here.”
On the House side, Republican leadership plans to hold at least one more vote to reopen DHS this week, but they have made no plans to cut their break short to wait for any potential deal.
