Senate, White House nearing deal to end DHS shutdown

Senate Republicans and the White House appear near to a deal to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security and end the partial government shutdown as the shutdown’s second month leads to worsening airport delays.

Talks are still underway, but “this deal seems to be acceptable,” a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity said Tuesday. President Donald Trump has said he wants to not only fund DHS but include other changes such as prohibitions on transgender care and a voter-ID measure.

Democrats, however, say they’re not satisfied with the Republicans’ proposal.

At a swearing-in ceremony for Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday, Trump said he would “take a good hard look” at the compromise funding proposal.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said at a press conference Tuesday that “Democrats have in front of them” the legislative text of a proposal to reopen DHS.

“The time to end this is now,” Thune said. “It is essentially what the Democrats have been asking for.”

The agreement would include funding for all of DHS except for a portion of its Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., part of a group of Republicans who met with Trump at the White House on Monday night, said it would amount to funding 94% of the agency.

Democrats so far have not given their blessing.

“Just as Democrats have been very clear, we will immediately fund TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard, and CISA while talks continue on ICE and Border Patrol, we’ve also made very clear that if we are talking about funding any part of ICE or CBP, we absolutely must take some key steps to rein them in,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Tuesday at a press conference, where she also described the talks with the White House as “productive.”

If a compromise is reached, it would bring to a close the shutdown that began Feb. 14 ahead of busy travel weeks for Easter and school spring breaks. The shutdown has caused DHS employees to miss pay, with some not going to work and others working without pay. Repeated government shutdowns — most recently last fall — have ended after flight disruptions due to staffing shortages of essential government employees who weren’t receiving regular paychecks.

The deal would also include a plan for Republicans to pursue a party-line bill that could make up that ICE funding and include a version of the SAVE America Act, the Trump-backed elections bill that would implement national voter-ID mandates and require proof of citizenship to register, Graham said. It would not include some of the ICE reforms Democrats have been demanding, like requiring judicial warrants for agents to enter private…