Congress
DHS shutdown all but certain after failed Senate vote
Lawmakers are heading for the exits following a failed Senate vote Thursday, all but guaranteeing the Department of Homeland Security shuts down early Saturday morning.
The funding lapse, which will hit parts of DHS harder than others, comes as the White House and congressional Democrats have failed to move closer to a deal after trading proposals to rein in immigration enforcement practices in the wake of two high-profile shootings in Minneapolis.
Democrats called the latest offer from the White House insufficient Thursday and are expected to send a counteroffer.
“Democrats have been very clear: We will not support an extension of the status quo,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote.
Democrats went on to block progress on a DHS funding bill the House passed last month, which would have been the vehicle for a short-term funding punt or a larger immigration agreement. The procedural vote was 52-47, well short of the needed 60 votes.
Prior to the vote, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, announced that ICE would be ending its enhanced immigration enforcement, a step that Democrats have called for. But Schumer said Thursday that “ICE’s abuses cannot be solved merely through executive fiat alone — we first and foremost need legislation.”
Republicans are expected to try to pass at least one weeks-long stopgap for DHS Thursday afternoon. But because every senator would need to agree to quick passage, it is expected to be blocked on the Senate floor.
While the negotiations have centered on ICE and Customs and Border Protection, a shutdown will affect a wider variety of agencies including TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that he thought the White House offer went “a long ways” toward an agreement, adding, “There are a couple of issues obviously that they’re going to have to work through and work out [with Democrats], and lines that neither side is probably going to be able to cross.”
Thune added that Democrats are “posturing right now” but that “progress has been real.”
With no deal close at hand, the Senate is on track to adjourn Thursday for a previously scheduled one-week recess. The House also adjourned Thursday for its previously scheduled recess, though members are on call to return within 48 hours if an agreement is reached. Thune said Thursday if a deal is struck, senators will need to get back to the Capitol within 24 hours.
Some GOP senators publicly pushed to stay in session in the event of a DHS shutdown, but many others pleaded with their colleagues during a closed-door lunch earlier this week to let them go back home and campaign.
Others are scheduled to leave Thursday to go on international trips, including a bipartisan group heading to the Munich Security Conference. House Speaker Mike Johnson has barred members from traveling to Munich or going on other government-funded trips over the break.
Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will headline a fundraiser next week for Rep. Mike Collins, the state’s GOP Senate nominee, according to an invite obtained by Blue Light News.
The Sept. 24 event will be held in Atlanta, and it comes as public polling shows Collins trailing Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff. Republicans have pushed to bring in more financial resources to close the gap in the top battleground.
Ossoff has repeatedly led Collins in candidate-level fundraising, but the Republican party committees and President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC combined hold a huge fundraising edge over the affiliated Democratic Party’s committees — which could potentially give Collins a boost.
The event, billed as a “roundtable and reception benefiting” Collins, could be a boon to Georgia Republicans, who have privately worried that party leaders are prioritizing other competitive Senate races, including in Michigan and Maine, as they look to defend the upper chamber.
Thune, as Senate GOP leader, is one of the party’s most prominent fundraisers. Kemp, meanwhile, has strong ties to Georgia and remains a popular figure in the state.
Collins’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The party is closing ranks behind Mike Collins with two of the strongest fundraisers heading to Atlanta to help him,” said one person close to the Collins campaign, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the dynamics of the race. “That’s not the sign of a candidate in trouble, it’s the sign of a candidate — who has closed the race from 13 to 7 points while being outspent — getting air support to bring this thing home.”
Kemp — who initially backed former football coach Derek Dooley in the Senate GOP primary — endorsed Collins earlier this week.
The fundraiser will also feature Georgia’s first lady Marty Kemp.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries again declined to say how he will respond to two rebel Democrats who have twice bucked party leaders to advance the Republican floor agenda.
“As I repeatedly made clear, I’ll have more to say — we’ll have more to say — about the situation when we have more to say about the situation,” Jeffries said at a Thursday news conference with the No. 2 and 3 leaders, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California.
Clark suggested Wednesday that one of the rebels, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, should lose her Appropriations Committee seat after the second break. After Gluesenkamp Perez and Jared Golden of Maine voted with Republicans earlier this month, Jeffries pledged a “serious response” that did not publicly materialize.
Standing beside Clark and Aguilar on Thursday, Jeffries said, “There is no daylight between the three of us, and we’ll address the situation when we address the situation.”
“The focus right now on taking back control of the House of Representatives,” he added. “That’s what the American people want to see — a dramatic change in this country because they are drowning.”
Sen. Jon Husted will try to send the first major legislative action to address the costs of the artificial intelligence boom to President Donald Trump’s desk Thursday.
The Ohio Republican, facing a tough reelection bid, will try to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act by requesting unanimous consent from his colleagues, a process by which senators can swiftly clear legislation. It would take only one senator to object, however, to sink the effort.
“Senator Husted will go to the floor this afternoon and request a live UC on the Ratepayer Protection Act,” said Olivia Tripodi, a spokesperson for his office.
If passed, the Ratepayer Protection Act could become Congress’s answer to address the costs of the data center build-out ahead of the midterm election. It comes after weeks of internal debate among lawmakers in both parties over how to best respond to growing backlash against data centers and could set the stage for further congressional action on AI in the months ahead.
It’s unclear, however, if all Democrats will line up behind the bill, which passed in a broad bipartisan House vote of 417-3 on Wednesday.
Democrats haven’t said if they will block Husted’s bill, but they could make a counteroffer to try to pass their own legislation instead, according to two people granted anonymity to speak candidly. Some Democrats have said the bill doesn’t go far enough to protect ratepayers.
“Data centers is a key issue and Jon Husted is in a very tough race, … so this is a frequent approach: last-minute legislation on a subject that’s controversial in the senatorial contest,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
The bill would require states to consider — but not mandate they adopt — a federal standard ensuring large data center operators cover 100% of the costs of new generation and transmission upgrades.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) also said he would need to review the bill more closely.
“I’ve got to review that more closely if it’s going to be UC,” Lee said Tuesday. “There are several other procedural mechanisms by which this could receive a vote in some fashion.”
Husted is leading the Senate version of the bill, while Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) sponsored the House bill.
Anthony Cruz contributed to this report.
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