Republicans Push to Reopen Homeland Security Amid Longest Shutdown

Tue Apr 21 2026 20:41:39 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

The Senate Republicans are striving to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, attempting a complex budget reconciliation process to end the enduring partial government shutdown.

In an effort to end the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history, Senate Republicans are working to pass a budget resolution that would fund the Department of Homeland Security. The process, initiated this week, aims to unlock crucial funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. Senate GOP leaders are utilizing a budget reconciliation maneuver to bypass the Senate filibuster, seeking a simple majority for approval. The plan is met with skepticism from Democrats, who demand reforms along with funding, fearing unchecked agency authority following recent violence involving federal agents.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are moving this week to try and reopen the Department of Homeland Security and end the longest partial government shutdown in history.

The first votes could come as soon as Tuesday as GOP leaders attempt a new workaround to unlock the funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. Democrats have blocked money for those agencies since mid-February, demanding policy changes after the fatal shootings of two protesters by federal agents.

Republicans’ workaround is through so-called budget reconciliation, a complicated, time-consuming maneuver that they also used to pass President Donald Trump’s package of tax and spending cuts last year. The budget process only requires a simple majority in the Senate, bypassing filibuster rules that require Republicans to find 60 votes on most bills when they only hold 53 seats.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the budget maneuver a “partisan sideshow” and said the resolution will pour money into immigration enforcement “without putting any restraints on these rogue agencies’ rampant violence in our streets.”

But with months of negotiations stalled and temporary stopgap funding nearly exhausted, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that Republicans “have run out of time to play the Democrats’ games.”

Republican leaders push through a complex process

The Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday released the estimated $70 billion resolution to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years, through the rest of Trump’s term. Thune and other GOP leaders say they hope to keep the bill narrowly focused as they aim to pass it by May 1.

But that could prove difficult as many in the party see it as the last real chance this year to enact their priorities. Republicans in both the Senate and House have pushed to add other items, including money for farmers and Trump’s proof of citizenship voting bill, called the SAVE America Act.

Senators who have been pushing for more to be included in the original resolution say they are preparing amendments to try and add them on the Senate floor. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he’ll try to add parts of the SAVE America Act and proposals related to the economy.

Democrats say any funding bill should place restraints on federal immigration authorities, including better identification for federal officers and more use of judicial warrants, among other acts. “After the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, people across the country demanded ICE be reined in — but instead of working with Democrats to enact real reform, Republicans rejected the most basic accountability measures, and now they’re rushing to give ICE billions of dollars more,” said Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.