GOP leaders eye second DHS funding stopgap after Dems reject White House offer

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(The Center Square) – With the deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security only days away, Democrats have refused an offer from the White House to strike a compromise over Immigrations and Customs Enforcement changes.

Now, Republican leaders are drafting a four-week Continuing Resolution to buy lawmakers more time to renegotiate the Homeland Security funding bill, the only fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill that isn’t law.

Democrats’ list of all-or-nothing demands for the bill funding DHS include restricting areas ICE agents can enter, mandating body-worn cameras and IDs, and requiring agents to obtain additional warrants to enter private property and detain people, among other things.

Republicans have expressed openness to some changes, such as body cameras, but are flatly against others, such as requiring judicial warrants as well as warrants from immigration courts. 

The White House’s counteroffer to Democratic leaders Monday night failed to satisfy, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.

“In response to our commonsense proposals to rein in ICE, Republicans shared an outline of a counterproposal – which included neither details nor legislative text,” Schumer posted Tuesday on X. “The GOP response is both incomplete and insufficient in terms of addressing the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct.”

Demands for greater accountability erupted after an ICE agent fatally shot another U.S. citizen protesting in Minneapolis in January, 37-year-old Alex Pretti.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., defended the work of immigration enforcement agents, saying DHS has “a very difficult job” and that “hiccups” will occur because of that.

“The problem is not DHS, the problem is local and state officials who are not helping the situation,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. “We need cooperation among law enforcement. It is common sense, and it will solve so many of these problems.”

While Republicans argue that the proposed reforms, taken together, would cripple immigration enforcement, Democrats argue that the measures are meant to increase accountability. 

“Holding ICE to the same standards as state and local law enforcement isn't unreasonable. Upholding our constitutional rights isn’t either,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said on X on Tuesday. “These aren't Democratic demands, they're commonsense reforms that Americans are insisting on across this country.”

As Johnson pointed out, however, if Democrats refuse to compromise and DHS funding lapses, ICE operations won’t even be impacted. 

Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill boosted the agency’s funding by $75 billion, while the Homeland Security bill allocates $10 billion.

“So what they’re playing with is TSA, FEMA, the Secret Service, the Coast Guard. You’re talking about agencies that are designed – the reason they are in the Homeland Security bill – is because those are the agencies charged with keeping Americans safe,” Johnson said. “Why would Democrats play political games with that? [...] It’s nonsense to us, and it’s dangerous to the American people.”