The 42-day shutdown has lead to TSA delays at airports around the country.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on March 27 he is putting forth a short-term bill to fund all of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for 60 days, instead of the Senate-passed measure to fund most of DHS except its immigration enforcement operations.
“This gambit that was done last night is a joke. I’m quite convinced that it can’t be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill,” he told reporters.
“We’re not doing that,” he added.
The House measure is unlikely to attract Democratic support in either the House or Senate, which would prolong the DHS shutdown that has lasted almost six weeks. Democrats are opposed to funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without significant reforms.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the House GOP bill would be dead on arrival in the Senate.
“A 60 day CR that locks in the status quo is dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it. We’ve been clear from day one: Democrats will fund critical Homeland Security functions—but we will not give a blank check to Trump’s lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms,” he posted on X.
The 42-day shutdown has resulted in long Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lines at airports nationwide.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed an emergency order to pay TSA agents during the shutdown.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus expressed opposition to the Senate-passed bill.
“This deal is bad for America. It’s bad for Americans,” said Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the caucus’s chair.
With the GOP having a narrow majority in the House, Johnson will need support from Democrats. Whether Democrats will support the measure is publicly unknown.
Funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is already secured through 2029 under Trump’s 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” leaving the current legislation focused on the remainder of DHS operations.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said the bill contains “zero reforms” to immigration enforcement policy.
“We’ve been trying for weeks to fund the whole thing,” Thune said. “In the end, this is what they were willing to agree to. But it’s disappointing—it includes no reforms on DHS, which could have been achieved if there had been more willingness to work with us.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the agreement could have been reached much earlier.
He added that Democrats will continue pushing to ensure that the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts do not receive additional funding without significant policy changes.
DHS funding lapsed on Feb. 13 after Democrats outlined 10 demands for immigration enforcement reform.
These proposals followed the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by immigration officers in Minneapolis.
The proposed reforms include limiting enforcement to targeted operations, requiring judicial warrants before entering private property, and banning broad or indiscriminate arrests.
Additional measures call for stronger warrant standards, verification of citizenship status before detention, and requirements for agents to clearly identify themselves.
Democrats also want officers to display their agency affiliation, last name, and a unique identification number, and to provide that information upon request.
Other proposals would prohibit enforcement actions at “sensitive locations,” including schools, churches, medical facilities, courts, child-care centers, and polling places.
Currently, DHS relies on administrative warrants, and federal immigration officers are not required to wear body cameras.
However, former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem recently indicated that agents in Minneapolis would begin using them.
Border czar Tom Homan has defended the use of masks by agents, citing a sharp increase in threats against law enforcement personnel.
“I don’t like the masks either, but threats against ICE officers are up more than 1,500 percent, and overall assaults and threats have risen more than 8,000 percent,” Homan said in an interview on Face the Nation.
“These men and women need to protect themselves.”
Homan has also maintained that the use of administrative warrants is permitted under federal law.
The Trump administration has not publicly addressed several of the Democrats’ other proposals, including restrictions on enforcement activities at designated sensitive locations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
