Homeland Security Shutdown Likely As Schumer Accuses Trump Admin Of ‘Thuggery’

The Department of Homeland Security will presumably face a lapse in funding starting on midnight Saturday, as negotiations still continue to move at a slow pace, with few public details on any possible immigration reforms.

The White House sent a counteroffer to Democrats, who made a long list of demands ranging from a change in warrants used for immigration arrests to a ban on agents wearing masks, earlier this week.

A continuing resolution to fund the agency is in place until the end of the day on Friday, which was part of a deal to keep the rest of the federal government funded through the end of September. Both chambers are scheduled to be out of Washington next week.

Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) pushed for another continuing resolution to keep talks going without stopping DHS funding, which was ultimately unsuccessful because it was blocked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), according to Fox News.

“We want to continue this conversation, but yet you’re penalizing a TSA agent. A TSA agent is gonna go without a paycheck. Why? So that you can posture politically. I’m over it. Everybody on that side of the aisle knows that ICE and CBP will continue to be funded,” Britt said in a passionate floor debate with Murphy, expressing concerns about TSA workers missing more checks after the 43-day-long shutdown last fall.

Murphy said that there needs to be “reforms” and “more serious engagement from the White House than has happened thus far” in order for DHS to get funding.

A shutdown of the department might not heavily impact funding for President Donald Trump’s immigration goals, as much of that funding was already appropriated in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed in July, but DHS’s other key agencies, like the U.S. Coast Guard, FEMA, and TSA, will be more seriously impacted.

As for the negotiations themselves, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Thursday, according to Deseret News, “I think you all know the issue of warrants is going to be very hard for the White House or for Republicans, but I think there are a lot of other areas where there has been give and progress.”

“The proposals that Senate and House Democrats presented last week and keep pushing for are very reasonable. We want ICE simply to follow the same standards that law enforcement agencies across the country already follow,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor Thursday, calling some immigration tactics “thuggery.”

“No more rogue police forces roaming through our cities,” he said.

On X, Thune spokesman Ryan Wrasse wrote on Thursday that “based on the totality of the evidence, it seems like Dems are defining ‘progress’ as ‘agree to all of our demands otherwise we’re taking our ball and going home.’”

In the House, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries referred to the White House proposal as a “so-called offer,” according to Punchbowl News.

“But my preliminary assessment of it is that it falls short of the type of dramatic changes necessary in order to change ICE,” he said.