Congress

One month later, the DHS shutdown shows no signs of ending

Published

6 months ago

March 13, 2026

Top Democrats and White House officials are nowhere near close to a breakthrough in negotiations to end the Homeland Security shutdown as the funding lapse is due to hit its one-month mark Saturday and real pain begins.

It’s been more than two weeks since the White House laid out its latest proposal for restoring full Department of Homeland Security operations alongside changes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, and Democrats have yet to send a formal counteroffer in the negotiations spurred by the fatal shootings by federal agents in January of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota.

TSA screeners are now missing their first full paychecks of the shutdown, which could lead to more agents skipping work or quitting — and exacerbate already-lengthy wait times at airport security checkpoints throughout the country. Republicans think this could be the breaking point where Democrats relent.

“I’m hopeful that as you see these problems at the airports, that the public will start talking to Democrats,” said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.).

But Democrats have a legislative rebuttal: Bills that would fully fund TSA and other parts of DHS that are casualties of the larger immigration standoff. Republicans have repeatedly objected over the last two weeks when Democrats asked for votes on those bills on the Senate floor.

“Who’s standing in the way? America, look at it,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Thursday. “We’re not putting any preconditions on funding TSA; the Republicans are.”

The Trump administration remains in “frequent” communication with senior Democratic lawmakers, according to one senior White House official granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. Another White House official said the president’s team “remains interested in continuing conversations with Democrats about ways to end this shutdown” but that “Democrats, regrettably, have chosen to punish the American people.”

Yet since the DHS shutdown began Feb. 14, Democrats on Capitol Hill say the administration has been unwilling to make any significant changes to its immigration enforcement tactics, while Republicans insist that the White House has in fact offered Democrats a deal they would be foolish not to take. Amid finger-pointing and deep distrust, there’s no sign the impasse will anytime soon.

On both sides, negotiators have been careful not to divulge the details of the offers each party is representing very differently. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in an interview this week that she “would like to see the Democrats actually read what the White House sent. It is an eminently reasonable proposal.”

The Senate’s top Democratic appropriator, Washington Sen. Patty Murray, suggested Thursday this wasn’t the case. She also said that while people outside the negotiations are “guessing” at the contents of the recent White House framework, ultimately “words matter.”

“You can have money for body cameras, but not require them — two very different things,” she said of GOP claims about what has been proposed. “I don’t want to characterize anything.”

Democrats are demanding new policies that would prohibit federal immigration agents from wearing masks, require officers to display identification and ensure that agents would be barred from detaining people in certain places, such as churches and schools. Democrats also aren’t budging on the demand that ICE obtain judicial warrants for making arrests.

Growing impatient as the shutdown stretches on, several Republican senators have tried to start up negotiations with their Democratic counterparts, despite GOP leaders initially deferring to the White House to handle dealmaking with the minority party.

Democrats have largely rebuffed those entreaties, however, arguing such talks could result in giving ground to congressional Republicans only to then see the White House renege on commitments. Democrats are especially worried about being railroaded by Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and the architect of President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda.

“Things go back to the White House, and Stephen Miller, who’s an extremist, says ‘no,’” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said in an interview.

Shaheen and other lawmakers have suggested it could be helpful for the White House to deputize a lead negotiator — but not Miller.

“Stephen Miller has a view that is outside of the American mainstream, and so it’s gonna be hard,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) in an interview. “If Susie Wiles were in charge of the discussion, that would be a different conversation.”

Wiles, who has served as White House chief of staff for more than a year, is involved in the talks, according to one senior White House official. But that official said talks toward a DHS funding deal are also led by Trump himself and a team headed by James Blair, White House deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs.

“There’s no blueprint to this,” the official said of the ongoing talks. “There’s multiple people working on it.”

In the days following the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, Republicans cited an increased risk of terrorist attacks in calling on Democrats to vote for restoring full DHS operations. But the argument did not shake loose any additional Democratic support, including on Thursday when Senate Majority Leader John Thune forced a procedural vote on the House-passed DHS funding bill.

A more tangible pressure point than a theoretical attack on U.S. soil could be further disruption to civilian air travel. The longer a shutdown goes on, the more disgruntled TSA agents will become, since they are forced to work without pay. TSA divulged this week that about 300 security screeners have quit since funding lapsed last month — and the workforce is poised to miss a full paycheck for the first time this shutdown.

In Denver, airport officials asked the public this week to donate $10 and $20 gift cards to help TSA agents pay for groceries and gas.

“When the pain goes from the poor TSA agents — who deserve to be paid, and whose families deserve to have them paid — when that pain gets translated to travelers, it gets worse,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said in an interview. “And that’s what we sure hope we can avoid in the next few days or week or two.”

While security lines grow longer at U.S. airports, news coverage of ICE and CBP agents detaining people in the interior of the country has declined.

“The further and further that we get away from January and the events that occurred in January, then the less and less leverage Democrats are going to have — and the more you may have issues at airports,” said a person close to the White House. “That’s going to put pressure on Democrats.”

At the same time, the Trump administration has stemmed the impact of the shutdown on most of the DHS workforce by bankrolling paychecks with money from the party-line tax and spending package Republicans enacted last summer. That includes pay for law enforcement officers at the Secret Service and active duty members of the Coast Guard.

DHS can also sustain work at ICE and CBP with the more than $100 billion Republicans delivered for those agencies within the party-line legislation last year.

“Democrats aren’t even shutting down what they have a problem with,” said another person close to the White House. “For the defenders of government workers and minorities, I think it’s wild that Democrats are withholding paychecks from TSA.”

Furthermore, Trump administration officials contend that the law does not allow funding from the GOP megabill to be used for TSA paychecks.

“Only way to get TSA paid is for Democrats to vote to reopen the government and not hold this key funding hostage,” said a senior administration official not authorized to speak publicly about interpretation of the law.

Stewart Verdery, who served as a DHS assistant secretary under former President George W. Bush, said he would be surprised if the Trump administration tried to find a way to pay TSA agents as the lapse drags on.

“TSA agents not getting paid is a very visible signal of the situation Democrats are creating,” Verdery said. “And I’m not sure why you’d want to solve it yourself.”

Beyond the Trump administration, congressional Republicans have also been unwilling to alleviate that pressure point by funding TSA and other DHS operations while leaving ICE and Customs and Border Protection hanging. Increasingly, Democrats are continuing to showcase that GOP resistance.

“If we can’t move forward funding the entire department, sitting down and negotiating in good faith — which you’ve had plenty of time to do already — we should be able to come together to pay the hardworking staff of one of its most essential components: TSA,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) said on the floor this week.

“Talk is easy,” she continued, questioning whether GOP senators would “back up what they say with their vote.” Republicans objected.

Eli Stokols contributed to this report.

Congress

Urgent motion filed to stop carving of Trump’s name into US Institute of Peace building

Published

6 hours ago

September 18, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Ousted board members of the U.S. Institute of Peace are asking a federal court to block the imminent carving of President Donald Trump’s name on the headquarters of the nonpartisan institution he sought to dismantle shortly after taking office.

Members of the board who were removed by the administration filed an emergency motion Thursday in Washington in a dispute that has echoes of Trump’s effort to place his name on the Kennedy Center.

The motion was filed as an emergency petition, alleging that a contractor has already been selected to carve Trump’s name into the Constitution Avenue headquarters that the administration sought to shutter as part of the Elon Musk-led DOGE effort to shrink the government.

The former board members said in their motion that they had asked Kenneth Jackson, the DOGE official serving as acting president of the USIP, to ensure the carving would not happen as they pursue litigation to preserve an independent nonprofit created by Congress under President Ronald Reagan to provide research and training aimed at promoting democracy around the world.

“The building — which was largely funded by private donations to USIP as a tax exempt nonprofit corporation — is a work of expressive architecture designed to be ‘symbolic of USIP’s’ independent ‘mission,’” the emergency motion said. “Alteration of the design to impose a different message would cause irreparable harm.”

Trump’s name was added to the exterior of the building in December, shortly before the president hosted a signing ceremony at the institute with the presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The bolted-on affixture is removable, and is featured next to the institute’s name, which is engraved into the facade.

The institute has been locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration as it hopes to reinstate its former president ousted by Trump last year. In May 2025, a federal judge ruled that the administration’s actions to dismantle the nonprofit was “unlawful” but the ruling was stayed by a federal appeals court panel a month later.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The USIP’s emergency motion comes days after Trump announced the Kennedy Center would be closing following a court ruling that blocked his name from being added to the building. Trump has threatened to tear down the center, and was seen on Wednesday viewing a large printout that appeared to say “Kennedy Center DEMOLISH.” The Kennedy Center, which USIP referred to in its motion, is seen as a bellwether for other institutions that Trump has sought to rebrand in his image.

“Notwithstanding the importance that the President and his supporters place on attaching his name to notable buildings,” the motion said, “Appellants will suffer no harm or prejudice whatsoever if they are precluded from carving the President’s name into the USIP building unless and until this litigation concludes in their favor.”

Congress

Republicans give Warsh room on interest rates

Published

11 hours ago

September 17, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Federal Reserve just made congressional Republicans’ lives even harder in the run-up to the November midterm elections. But they’re holding their fire on Fed Chair Kevin Warsh.

The Fed this week hiked interest rates for the first time since Warsh took over as the central bank’s leader. The central bank’s unanimous decision to increase borrowing costs threatens to worsen the growing problems Republicans face around voters’ views of the economy and the high cost of living.

But some GOP lawmakers indicated they were relieved to see Warsh’s willingness to buck President Donald Trump after he faced withering criticism during his confirmation process from Democrats, who said he would do the president’s bidding in the role.

“The Fed has to be independent. They showed that they were independent,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican who is up for reelection. “That should give confidence to the markets.”

Republicans’ willingness to give Warsh room — despite its potential political downsides for them — highlights their deference to the new Fed chief.

“It’s not good,” said Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who lost a primary earlier this year to a Trump-backed opponent. “But it’s a fact that they need to get inflation under control. But the timing is not optimal.”

The decision to hike rates comes amid an uneasy dynamic where the Fed is taking action to tamp down rising inflation while Trump wants to see the economy boosted by cheaper borrowing costs. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, are caught between supporting Trump’s economic agenda and voicing confidence in Warsh’s ability to bring inflation under control.

Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), a staunch supporter of the president who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, said that while she and Warsh “may have a different opinion on how we achieve a place where ultimately interest rates are low” and that she’d “love to see [lower rates],” she “trust[s] what [Warsh] is doing, and appreciate[s] the independence of the Fed.”

Warsh was tapped by Trump for the job in January with the hope that he would lower rates. However, since he was nominated, the U.S. entered into a conflict with Iran, high tariffs continued and gas prices soared, among other inflation and affordability concerns.

Trump-aligned lawmakers are cautioning against moving too aggressively to increase borrowing costs — but they are doing so gently.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) said in an interview that Warsh is “under a tremendous amount of pressure,” pointing to other Fed officials’ support for a hike.

“I understand the concerns about inflation, but I do think there’s a significant component of inflation that will be addressed as we address the situation in the Middle East,” Hagerty said.

Congress

Senate Democrats press Hegseth for Iran war price tag

Published

13 hours ago

September 17, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Forty-six members of the Senate Democratic caucus are demanding that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provide a detailed accounting of the Iran war’s costs, arguing that the Pentagon has failed to explain how it has spent, and plans to spend, tens of billions of taxpayer dollars.

The letter, led by Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, was signed by every member of the Senate Democratic caucus except Sen. John Fetterman. Independent Sens. Bernie Sanders and Angus King, who caucus with Democrats, were also included.

The senators asked the Pentagon to provide a breakdown by Sept. 30 of all direct and indirect costs incurred to date in the conflict, as well as a breakdown of the administration’s $67 billion supplemental request. The senators also sought a detailed plan for how $34 billion of leftover funds allocated to the Pentagon in Republicans’ Big Beautiful Bill will be spent.

The letter also requests that the department specify which portions of the requested funds are intended to reimburse past expenses, and which are meant for future operations.

“Despite asking for tens of billions of additional taxpayer dollars, you have so far failed to provide basic information on how this money has and will be spent,” the senators wrote. “Congress must have access to this information to carry out our oversight responsibilities. It is the bare minimum that any American would expect in balancing their own household budget.”

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The demand comes as the war enters its seventh month with no agreement to end the conflict. On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office said the conflict would reach about $2 billion to $3 billion a month, noting that the first five months cost the U.S. $38 billion — the most comprehensive look at the conflict ahead of the midterm elections.

Fetterman has repeatedly broken with his party over the conflict, supporting President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran in February and voting against a measure seeking to limit Trump’s war powers. His distance from Democrats was underscored last week when he made a surprise video appearance at Trump’s Republican midterm convention in Dallas.

Fetterman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.