NEW: Thune Caves To Dems, Fails To Secure ICE Funding Despite Trump’s Move To Give GOP Leverage

The Senate voted overnight to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security after a 42-day standoff, passing a package that keeps agencies like TSA, the Coast Guard and FEMA running but leaves out any new money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.

The bill heads to the House next.

The partial shutdown hammered the workforce and travelers. Tens of thousands of DHS employees worked without pay or quit. Airports saw long security lines during spring break, as TSA staffing cratered.

“Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump’s rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor. “I’m very proud of our Democratic caucus. Throughout it all, Senate Democrats stood united — no wavering, no backing down. We held the line.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune argued Democrats never seriously tried to strike a deal that funded the full department.

“We could be standing here right now passing a funding bill with a list of reforms if Democrats had made the smallest effort to actually reach an agreement, but they didn’t,” Thune said early Friday. “It is now clear to everyone that Democrats didn’t actually want a solution, they wanted an issue.”

Even so, the final agreement is exactly what conservatives feared: Washington found money for the front-end agencies Americans see at the airport and in disasters, but punted on the core fight over immigration enforcement.

ICE operations have continued in large part because of roughly $75 billion previously provided under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but other DHS components were left scrambling during the lapse, relying on employees to stay on the job without paychecks.

🚨 BREAKING: The Senate has LEFT TOWN after funding TSA and DHS, except for ICE and CBP

No SAVE America Act either.

The funding bill now falls on the HOUSE, then it must be signed by President Trump

ICE MUST BE FUNDED! pic.twitter.com/u1qjuhy9u7

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 27, 2026

At a hearing Wednesday, TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeil warned lawmakers the strain was becoming dangerous for the system, with absences reaching as high as 40% at some airports and more than 480 TSA officers quitting during the shutdown.

“We are really concerned about our security posture and what the long term impacts of this shutdown is going to have on the workforce and our ability to carry out this mission,” McNeil said.

Behind the scenes, Thune said Republicans made Democrats a final offer to end the impasse by funding all of DHS while carving out enforcement and removal operations. Some Democrats signaled interest but raised concerns that the administration could shift money inside ICE to keep deportation work moving.

As the airport pressure intensified, President Trump moved to seize the initiative, saying he would declare a national emergency to pay TSA agents. The announcement raised immediate questions about where the money would come from and whether the approach would survive legal scrutiny.

RELATED: JUST IN: Trump Orders Sweeping Action To Pay TSA Agents Amid Dem-Led Shutdown

Not long after that, Thune told reporters a deal had been reached to fund most of DHS but not ICE and Border Patrol. The measure passed by voice vote after 2 a.m., with only a handful of senators on the floor.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has criticized piecemeal funding, calling it “shameful” to fail to fully fund DHS. It’s unclear whether the House will accept the Senate package or demand changes.

Republicans say they will still try to address ICE funding through a party-line reconciliation bill, potentially tied to the Trump-backed voting overhaul known as the Save America Act. But reconciliation has strict rules, and the strategy could run into both procedural roadblocks and internal GOP fights over what else gets added, including money tied to the war with Iran.

RELATED: Delta Pulls VIP Travel Perks From Congress As DHS Shutdown Drags On

With Congress leaving Washington for a two-week recess, the immigration enforcement fight is far from over. The shutdown may be easing for travelers and paychecks, but the border battle is heading straight into the next round.

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