The Senate approved a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security early Friday. The bill does not fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Senate has voted to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security. If the House follows, it would end a 42-day standoff over immigration enforcement. Now, the deal does not fund the parts of DHS that deal with immigration enforcement, and it does not include any reforms. Coming up, we’ll hear from an airport security officer who has not been paid in weeks. We start with the details from Congress.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
NPR congressional reporter Sam Gringlas is here. Sam, good morning.
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: How did this unfold?
GRINGLAS: So around 2 a.m. last night, the Senate agreed to fund almost all of the department through September. That includes money for TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard and cybersecurity. But the agreement does not include any more money for ICE and Border Patrol. Democrats have continued to refuse to fund those agencies as they try to extract changes to immigration enforcement tactics after federal officers killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
INSKEEP: OK. So if I understand you, the compromise is that Republicans don’t give any ground in immigration, while Democrats, at least, don’t have to give their votes directly to immigration enforcement. Is that it?
GRINGLAS: Yeah. You know, yesterday Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans had made their last offer – fund all of DHS, including ICE, except the division responsible for enforcement and removal operations. Still, all day I watched as senators involved in these talks were literally hustling back and forth between the Senate chamber and Thune’s office, struggling to ink a deal. And meanwhile, the situation at the nation’s airports was becoming more untenable. You know, TSA officer absences topped 40% at some major airports this week.
INSKEEP: Wow.
GRINGLAS: And no one wanted to risk being blamed for what was happening. Then last night, President Trump said he was declaring a national emergency and ordering TSA agents to be paid anyway. You know, it wasn’t initially clear where that money would come from, and now whether he’ll sign that still. Not long after, Thune agreed to this vote that would fund DHS with no funding at all for ICE.
INSKEEP: Is this, in the end, a defeat for Democrats?
GRINGLAS: I mean, changes to immigration tactics was the goal of this partial shutdown for Democrats, and they did not get that. And some Democrats do think they lose leverage as soon as DHS is funded because even though the Senate did not approve funding for ICE and Border Patrol, Republicans in Congress already gave ICE $75 billion last summer.
INSKEEP: Right.
GRINGLAS: So that agency is pretty insulated from an ongoing funding lapse. You know, Democrats can say, though, that they held firm in opposing this.
INSKEEP: What happens with the talks about immigration changes, though?
GRINGLAS: Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said this morning that Democrats will keep pushing for reforms. The White House has previously expressed a willingness to adopt some of Democrats’ demands, like requiring body cameras and limiting operations in places like schools and hospitals. Though, the White House has continued to say that two of Democrats’ nonnegotiables are nonstarters – banning officers from wearing masks and requiring judicial warrants to enter homes. And some Republicans are now indicating the window to negotiate may be over.
INSKEEP: Where does the president stand?
GRINGLAS: Just a few days ago, Trump was insisting that DHS funding be tied to his voting law overhaul he’s been pushing called the SAVE America Act.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
GRINGLAS: That is not how this played out. Top Republicans offered the president another way to address voting law – a party-line budget reconciliation vote, but that isn’t a sure bet. And so even while the worst of this shutdown could be coming to an end today, Congress is heading on a two-week recess, leaving unresolved some thorny debates about immigration enforcement and voting.
INSKEEP: Sam, you seem pretty chipper for someone who covered a story that lasted into the early hours of the morning. Thank you very much.
GRINGLAS: Sleep soon. Thanks, Steve.
INSKEEP: NPR’s Sam Gringlas.
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