By Siobhan Hughes, Lindsay Wise and Natalie Andrews
WASHINGTON -- President Trump rejected an approach floated by Senate Republicans to end the standoff with Democrats over funding the Department of Homeland Security, as long airport security lines due to absent workers piled pressure on lawmakers to act.
White House staff briefed the president on an idea to fund all parts of DHS -- including the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard -- but not Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to people familiar with the matter. Republicans could then separately fund ICE through a procedural move -- known as reconciliation -- that would allow the money to clear the Senate on a simple majority vote instead of requiring the 60 votes needed to pass most legislation.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) walked Trump through the strategy in a weekend conversation, the people said, but Trump rejected the idea. In comments Monday, Trump instead insisted that lawmakers pass not only a complete DHS package but also link it with the SAVE America Act, which centers on new voter-eligibility rules.
"I'm tying homeland security into voter identification," Trump said at an event in Memphis, Tenn. "I'm requesting that the Republican senators do that immediately....Don't worry about Easter, going home. In fact, make this one for Jesus," he said.
The SAVE America Act -- which like DHS funding has stalled in the Senate due to Democratic opposition -- would ratchet up ID requirements to vote in federal elections and mandate proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Thune told reporters that linking the two wasn't plausible politically. On the SAVE America Act, he said, "the idea that we would have to guarantee its passage in order to fund the government, I think you all know that's not realistic."
Thune said discussions continue with Democrats. "Hopefully as the week wears on, we'll find a path forward to get this done," he said.
Some Republican senators headed to the White House on Monday evening to talk to Trump about how to end the DHS shutdown, including Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Steve Daines of Montana.
Some top Senate Republicans had met on Sunday with White House liaison James Braid to discuss ideas for ending the shutdown. The conversation between Thune and Trump was reported earlier by Punchbowl News.
Over the weekend, the president said he would send ICE agents to select airports around the country to assist TSA with security lines. Trump on Monday said that move brought Democrats to the table to negotiate, but he told his negotiators to hold firm.
"When I announced yesterday about ICE, the Democrats called, we want to settle," Trump told reporters. "I told the people: 'don't settle, don't settle, because we have something bigger, only settle if you get the SAVE America Act.' "
A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said he didn't know what Trump was talking about and such a call never happened. In a floor speech, Schumer said Trump was trying to sabotage negotiations by "demanding talks stop entirely until Congress passes the SAVE Act, a bill that has nothing -- nothing -- to do with paying TSA workers."
While DHS, which oversees the TSA, has been largely shut down since last month, ICE remains fully operational using $ 75 billion approved under the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which could fund the agency for years even if Congress doesn't pass new appropriations.
Democrats have rejected any new funding for ICE, precipitating the current DHS funding lapse. They have made a series of demands related to immigration enforcement, including raising the threshold for searches and mandating that officers display clear identification and don't wear masks. The administration last week offered some concessions including greater use of body cameras.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) has proposed reaching a bipartisan deal to immediately fund everything except ICE and then take up a separate bill to fund ICE for 10 years and increase its budget with just Republican votes.
"I think there is a real urgency in the Senate to try to get this resolved before the Easter holiday. The question is, are the Democrats going to budge?" he said on his Verdict podcast Monday. He said Democrats don't have a plan but are "obeying their angry activists who are just screaming."
Democrats said that the ball was in the president's court. "All those long, long lines you're seeing at the airport are thanks to one man: Donald Trump," said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii) on X. "He was presented with a deal to fund TSA along with the rest of DHS except ICE, and he said no."
Democrats have held firm on blocking funding for DHS, instead repeatedly proposing narrow bills that would just fund TSA or other nonimmigration-related parts of DHS.
If Congress doesn't agree on DHS funding by March 27 and leaves for a scheduled two-week recess, TSA officers are set to miss more than a month of paychecks. Thune has indicated he could keep the Senate in session until lawmakers reach a deal.
Write to Siobhan Hughes at Siobhan.hughes@wsj.com, Lindsay Wise at lindsay.wise@wsj.com and Natalie Andrews at natalie.andrews@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 23, 2026 19:06 ET (23:06 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments