The Senate wanted to go home, so it passed a bill late at night that funded most of the Department of Homeland Security, but not Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol. The situation is complicated, but the Republicans 'won' this round, as Democrats wanted judicial warrants and masks for ICE agents, but they didn't get either. Still, House Republicans are upset about splitting the funding and annoyed that Senate Republicans procedurally put them in a difficult position. Members of the upper chamber also headed for the weekend, which doesn't look good.
Come on, the House is going to pass this deal
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) March 27, 2026
The fact is that ICE and CBP are funded through the Big, Beautiful Bill, and the rest of the funding will come later via a reconciliation package that will include some SAVE America Act provisions. That is unacceptable to House members.
Let’s summarize where we are after a 40+ day Democrat shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
— Leader John Thune (@LeaderJohnThune) March 27, 2026
1) ICE and CBP are funded, thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts and the foresight of President Trump and Republicans in Congress.
2) After holding DHS and the American…
41 days of shutdown — during which four jihadist attacks took place, thousands of travelers were badly inconvenienced, and many federal workers didn’t get paid — all to achieve absolutely nothing. But they “fought”! https://t.co/LMOFo3K2zy
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 27, 2026
Because Senate Democrats didn’t end up accepting the Republican offer on DHS funding & negotiations fell apart yesterday, Dems will get *zero* of the ICE reforms they had been demanding, including ones that GOP had already agreed to, like showing ID, increased Congressional…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 27, 2026
What happened this morning on the House side does not look promising, though some in the media initially believed there would be a lot of chest-beating, venting, and chair-throwing, and then the House would approve the deal. The current alternative being discussed is a 60-day continuing resolution for all of DHS.
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House Republicans are NOT happy. Even senior appropriators ticked off Thune did this without consulting House.
— Sarah Ferris (@sarahnferris) March 27, 2026
R leaders trying to sort a plan. Meanwhile House hardliners (Clyde, Cloud, etc) plotting how to jam the Senate. They’ll be going public with their demands shortly.
🚨MANY House Republicans livid Senate passed a DHS funding deal without ICE and some CBP $ overnight and left
— Meredith Lee Hill (@meredithllee) March 27, 2026
“A bunch of cowards. They didn't even take a recorded vote” @AustinScottGA08, a Rules Committee member, said
“This is not a done deal”
A BIG crisis facing Speaker…
SCOOP: House Speaker Mike Johnson has agreed in a meeting with the Freedom Caucus to put a 60-day CR that funds all of DHS, including ICE and CBP, instead of the Senate-passed bill on the House floor
— Kate Santaliz (@kate_santaliz) March 27, 2026
It’ll take it a step further. I don’t think the House will take up and pass the senate DHS bill as is.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 27, 2026
There’s talk about restoring CBP money and adding voter ID. https://t.co/kN90q5K4wf
Fox confirms that the House Republican leadership is proposing a two-month, clean extension of all funding for DHS, including ICE. This is NOT what all 100 senators agreed to last night. If the House were to adopt this plan, they’d have to do it with GOP votes. Many House…
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 27, 2026
ICE was deployed at the airport to provide relief for TSA. It worked. Democrats eagerly anticipated chaos, but none happened. What truly undermined them was when Trump used funds from last year’s tax cut bill to pay the agents’ salaries, allowing DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to do so.
New: The money Trump is using to pay TSA is available from last year’s tax cuts bill (which also spent billions on immigration enforcement), according to an administration official. More w/ @burgessev: https://t.co/qIUSBhPn74
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) March 27, 2026
Remember, they got no judicial warrants for ICE arrests—an impractical request—or unmasking mandates. The deportation agenda is funded through 2029. But the Democrats want to defund ICE and the DHS altogether, which is their endgame. Also, if Trump had ordered DHS to use reserve funds to pay TSA, they still would’ve whined, even filed a lawsuit.
Senator Ed Markey calls to abolish ICE: "I don't think ICE is any longer capable of existing."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 27, 2026
Abolishing ICE protects criminals not Americans.
Democrats don't care about your safety. pic.twitter.com/R23anXcNQz
The Democrats put on a grand political theater production, where all the theater kids got to play a part. In the end, they got none of their demands for ICE. Still, that means there better be another reconciliation push. At this point, and I’m open to changing my mind, I’ve had it with the filibuster. It should be nuked, and then we can pass any funding bill, plus the SAVE Act, without further obstruction. It’s beyond annoying how our intraparty antics allow Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer to look like legitimate players when even members of their own party hold both men with disdain. ICE is more popular than Democrats right now.
How did it give Dems “everything” they want?
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 27, 2026
They get zero ICE reforms, and ICE & CBP operations will continue without any changes whatsoever as they are already funded.
The entire shutdown has been a complete waste of time because we are now right back where we started.
If…
Right now, House conservatives are looking for ways to jam up the Senate. That’s misdirected hostility. It’s bad enough we have agita-caucuses that raise blood pressure for every vote. The institutional rivalries, though historic and healthy, need to be put aside.
The Senate also needs to get their asses back, because John Thune bolting after the vote is inexcusable.
Senate Republicans, House Republicans, and Democrats are all hurling their talking points, making a lot of noise. It’s a mess, but Democrats are going to fund DHS; they didn’t get ICE to de-mask or seek judicial warrants, and the rest of the money is, and in fact, now must come through another reconciliation package, with more money and zero reforms that they want. Thune just put all his chips in the middle of the table here.
There are many things that went wrong, not the least being that the GOP was overly generous in the time frame to deal with these intransigent Democrats. But this lack of communication jeopardized much of the messaging.
🚨 JUST IN: Senate Leader John Thune ripped for leaving DC "with his private escort" through the airport for recess without the SAVE America Act being passed
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 27, 2026
REP. RANDY FINE: "Looks like Leader John Thune is on his way out of town with his private escort, as the SAVE America Act… pic.twitter.com/8PfCNjW1pv
We're essentially back to square one, where DEMOCRATS once again own this shutdown.
The Senate is off until April 13.
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