Senators consider deal to fund Homeland Security but not ICE enforcement
as airport lines snarl
[March 24, 2026]
By LISA MASCARO and JOEY CAPPELLETTI
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are discussing a proposal to end the Homeland
Security budget stalemate by funding much of the department, including
the Transportation Security Administration airport workers going without
pay, but excluding ICE's enforcement and removal operations that have
been core to the dispute.
The potential breakthrough came after a group of Republican senators
headed to the White House late Monday to meet with President Donald
Trump. Senators said they expected the negotiators to work through the
night hammering out the details and present written proposals for both
parties to discuss Tuesday at their weekly caucus lunches.
“All I can say is that the discussions have been very positive and
productive, and hopefully headed in the right direction,” said Senate
Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters late in the
evening: “Both sides are working in a serious way.”
The sudden shift in the monthlong standoff comes as U.S. airports are
jammed with long lines after routine Homeland Security funding was
halted, leaving TSA understaffed during the spring travel season.
Democrats are refusing to fund Homeland Security without restraints on
Trump's immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations after
the deaths of two U.S. citizens during ICE protests in Minneapolis.
Trump took the extraordinary step over the weekend of ordering
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to provide airport
security, drawing alarm from some lawmakers that it could escalate
tensions.
The contours of the deal under consideration would fund most of Homeland
Security, but exclude funding for one main part of ICE — the enforcement
and removal operations that are core to Trump's deportation agenda.
Under the package being floated, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations
would be funded as well as Customs and Border Protection, but with new
guardrails to position officers from those divisions in their
traditional roles, rather than as they have been used more recently in
immigration roundups in cities. It would also include a number of
changes in immigration operations that Democrats have demanded,
including mandating that officers wear body cameras and identification.
Since so much of ICE is already funded through Trump's big tax breaks
bill, and immigration officers are still receiving paychecks during the
partial government shutdown, senators said the new restraints would also
be imposed on operations that rely on that funding source, as well.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., talks to reporters about
a funding bill to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland
Security shutdown that began more than a month ago, at the Capitol
in Washington, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
"I'm going to be working through the night,” said Republican Sen.
Katie Britt of Alabama, a chief negotiator who returned from the
White House meeting hopeful they had a solution to “land this
plane.”
“We’re going to be working diligently,” she said.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who was not part of the group at the White
House, said his understanding was that there was a “sense of
urgency” coming from the talks.
Coons described various choices before the senators at this point —
from no money at all for ICE but also no restraints on the agency
operations, to fully funding ICE but with more of the restraints
Democrats have demanded, to a middle option of funding most of DHS
excluding ICE's enforcement and removal operations. That middle
option is what he and other senators understood was broadly on the
table after the White House talks.
“First step is to get the proposal in writing,” said Sen. Angus
King, the Independent from Maine. “I want to see exactly what that
means.”
Senators late Monday also confirmed Markwayne Mullin as Homeland
Security secretary. He takes over for Kristi Noem, who led the
department's immigration enforcement operations that erupted with
the public outcry and the funding standoff.
Mullin provides a potentially new face for the immigration
operation. During his confirmation hearing last week, Mullin touched
on another key demand Democrats want — ensuring a judge has signed
off on warrants that immigration officers use to search people's
homes, rather than simply relying on administrative warrants issued
by the department.
“This is significant,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said about the
progress toward changes. "Noem is gone. That’s a big deal.”
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said he was hopeful senators could work
things out. “Look, there’s a lot of different variables in the
equations,” he said. “I'm hopeful we'll get there.”
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Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
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