U.S. lawmakers unflinching in DHS shutdown fight that could drag on for weeks as airport lines and travel anxieties grow

Travelers wait in long lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16. (Megan Varner/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Both parties on Capitol Hill remain unmoved in their fight over U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, threatening to drag out the U.S. Department of Homeland Security shutdown for days – if not weeks – more.

Even as a top official warned Tuesday the US could soon be forced to shutter some airports, top party leaders are responding to the mounting political crisis by blaming their opponents.

“I think Republicans need to pay TSA workers,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker told CNN when asked if Democrats planned to stand firm on their demands as airline delays worsen. “This chaos is Donald Trump and congressional Republicans who are doing nothing to pay these very loyal government workers.”

Booker is among dozens of Senate Democrats who are refusing to support any funding bill for DHS that doesn’t include a significant overhaul to Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. They see the funding fight as their only chance to force the White House to make changes in law to the agency’s contentious – and at times, fatal – operations, which have led to nationwide outrage this year.

“ICE being able to wear masks, to be able to pull people out of their cars and throw them to the ground, to be able to gas little babies and to be able to shoot people in broad daylight with no accountability. That is not helping reduce lines at the airport,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts told CNN on Tuesday.

These Democrats have repeatedly tried to force Republicans to fund DHS’ other key functions, including the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But Republicans are equally firm that Democrats are the ones blocking the funding and insist they will not fund slices of the department.

That fierce disagreement over federal immigration enforcement has left DHS without funding at a critical time, with a heightened threat environment stemming from the US war with Iran and severe weather and spring break travel threatening to compound at already understaffed airports. And both sides warn the stalemate could continue through Congress’ two-week recess for Easter and Passover, dragging the shutdown on for many more weeks.

The impasse is also colliding with the confirmation process for Trump’s pick to lead the agency, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who is set to appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee for a grilling on Wednesday.

Inside the Capitol and White House, Republicans believe that Democrats – not Trump – will feel the political pain from the shutdown as they seek to block funding for border security, according to multiple people familiar with internal discussions. They argue that vulnerable Democratic incumbents – like Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, whose hometown airport of Atlanta has seen hours-long waits – will feel the blowback come November.

Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that Democrats are holding DHS “hostage in order to protect criminal illegal aliens” as he warned that airports are “reaching a breaking point” with 50,000 TSA agents now going without pay for another week. His Senate counterpart, Majority Leader John Thune, argued that Democrats chose not to accept a major ICE proposal from the White House roughly three weeks ago, which he said amounted to “significant gives” designed to unlock talks to fund the department.

Democrats returned a counteroffer to the White House last night, nearly 20 days after the White House’s last offer, two sources familiar with negotiations told CNN, though one added that it did not move the debate in any way.

Thune described Democrats’ latest offer as largely the same as previous ones, while he said the White House offer included as much as $100 million in body cams and a proposal for inspector general audits, as well as “reviews for noncompliance.”

“Democrats seem intent on dragging out this political issue,” Thune said.

Detailing several elements of its offer in a letter to top Senate Republican appropriators, White House officials wrote that along with new body camera provisions, their proposed funding deal would include limiting the government’s ability to conduct enforcement operations at “sensitive” locations like hospitals and schools and boost oversight of federal detention facilities.

It would also require that most immigration agents clearly identify themselves during enforcement actions and codify what the officials called the “current practice of not knowingly detaining a U.S. citizen.”

The offer did not address agents’ use of masks. In a subsequent call with reporters, a senior White House official also suggested the White House would oppose changes to its reliance on administrative warrants, calling it a “longstanding practice.”

Democrats have so far rejected the administration’s funding offers as inadequate, arguing that there need to be broader departmental reforms.

“The parties are moving far apart,” the senior official said, adding that talks are not advanced enough yet for President Donald Trump to negotiate directly with top Democratic lawmakers.

Democrats have fiercely disputed Thune’s characterization of the White House’s willingness to compromise. Sen. Patty Murray, the Senate Democratic spending leader, told reporters that her latest proposal was “not the same” but declined to share specifics.

Asked by CNN if Democrats are getting nervous about the effects of the shutdown, such as airline delays, Murray was firm: “Who should be nervous right now is Republicans, who are holding up the pay. We have offered numerous opportunities for them to do that.”

Unlike in previous funding fights, the Democratic Party is showing no major cracks in their position.

So far, only Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania – who is famously opposed to shutdowns – has veered from the party line. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his team feel confident that nearly the entire party is behind him after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti prompted outrage in Minneapolis, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.

New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who notably voted with Republicans to end the last government shutdown, told CNN on Tuesday that it’s the GOP that needs to back down.

“I think negotiations are ongoing but the reality is if Republicans wanted to solve this they would fund everything but ICE,” Shaheen said, referring to the multiple Democratic attempts to fund TSA and other non-immigration pieces of DHS. The immigration agency, she pointed out, was already funded for the next several years through the GOP’s major border and tax bill last year.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said he sees only two ways out of the stalemate.

“One is that the White House gets serious about meaningfully reining in ICE. I just don’t see that happening,” he said. The other? “Republicans agree to fund TSA, fund the Coast Guard and fund FEMA and we could do it today,” he said.

In the House, Democrats are planning to mount their own pressure campaign against House GOP leaders later this week — attempting to force a vote on a bill that would fund DHS aside from immigration enforcement. That bill would only need a handful of Republican signatures to succeed in forcing a vote — but GOP leaders feel confident it will not be a problem, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Republicans point out that Democrats’ push would not only leave ICE unfunded, but also Customs and Border Protection, which they argue is much harder to defend.

“This is not a serious proposal,” GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx, who leads the House Rules Committee, said on the floor Tuesday, scoffing at Democrats’ suggestion that Republicans are the ones blocking funding for the department. “We need to fund all of DHS to keep our border closed … and it’s obvious that’s not what the Democrats want.”

Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox, Adam Cancryn, CNN