The Senate DHS funding deal fell apart. Now what?

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: The Senate DHS funding deal fell apart. Now what?
Date: March 30, 2026
Hosts: Ashley Lopez, Sam Greenglass, Mara Liasson
Podcast: The NPR Politics Podcast

In this episode, the NPR Politics team dives into the latest collapse of a Senate deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), explores why negotiations fell apart once the compromise reached the House, and discusses the political fallout amid another partial government shutdown. The conversation also highlights President Trump’s executive action to mitigate the visible pain of the shutdown and considers the implications for both parties, the traveling public, and upcoming elections.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Senate DHS Funding Deal: What Was on the Table?

• Senate Compromise:
  • The deal reached in the Senate would fund almost all of DHS, including FEMA and the Coast Guard.
  • Notably, the deal excluded new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol due to Democratic opposition following the Minneapolis shootings by federal immigration officers.
  • Sam Greenglass [00:50]:

    “This is something that Democrats had been refusing to fund after the shootings of those two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers. And Republicans had pushed back on not funding DHS fully.”

  • Reforms: No ICE reforms were included; only a freeze on new funding for ICE and Border Patrol.
    • Sam Greenglass [01:36]:

      “Nothing. This deal included none of the policy changes that Democrats had been pushing for… What Democrats did get out of this is no new funding for ICE and for Border Patrol, but no policy changes specifically.”

2. Collapse in the House: Why the Deal Fell Apart

• House Republican Opposition:
  • Conservatives in the House demanded inclusion of the Save America Act (a voting law overhaul), a Trump-backed priority not present in the Senate deal.
  • House Republicans offered a 60-day DHS funding extension, with ICE and Border Patrol funded—unacceptable to Senate Democrats.
  • Sam Greenglass [01:54]:

    “It became apparent that House Republicans were not going to be behind this deal… And so instead, House Republicans said they were gonna put forward a 60 day extension of DHS funding that would include money for ICE and Customs and Border Protection.”

3. Tangible Effects of the Shutdown

• Travel Disruption:
  • TSA workers are unpaid, leading to sick-outs, resignations, and record-long airport security lines—one of the most visible impacts of the shutdown.
  • Ashley Lopez [02:49]:

    “The main way in which the general public has been feeling the effects of this shutdown is by those record long lines at airport security lines.”

4. President Trump's Emergency Fix

• Trump's Executive Action:
  • Trump issued a presidential memorandum declaring an emergency to pay TSA agents using already-appropriated DHS funds (“the one big, beautiful bill”).
  • This action aims to restore TSA pay and—if successful—quickly eliminate airport delays, reducing public pressure on Congress.
  • Mara Liasson [03:15]:

    “Donald Trump issued what's called a presidential memorandum… That allows him to order the TSA agents to be paid… So if that goes through… the TSA agents will start getting paid. The lines should disappear. If they do, that certainly takes away one of the biggest political pressure points for Congress.”

• Legal Questions:
  • Little likelihood of a court challenge, as DHS already has substantial funds.
  • ICE and Border Patrol functions have continued largely unaffected due to existing funds.
  • Sam Greenglass [04:37]:

    “Even though DHS is without funding for this fiscal year, they have tons of money to work with. So ICE has been able to continue their duties throughout all of this… And so, you know, even as Democrats try and withhold money for ICE, it's not really doing much to prevent ICE agents from doing their job.”

5. Political Dynamics and Stalemate

• Stalemate:
  • Neither side got what it wanted—no policy concessions for Democrats, no Save America Act for Republicans.
  • With airport lines likely to normalize, Congress likely feels less urgency to resolve the shutdown.
  • Mara Liasson [04:59]:

    “The bottom line, though, politically, is that Democrats did not get the reforms in ICE they wanted, and Republicans didn't get the SAVE act… So both parties end up without meeting their political goals. Voters are even more cynical and disgusted with the dysfunction of Congress.”

• Leadership Gaps:
  • Despite GOP control of Congress and the White House, leadership is fractured.
  • Trump is disengaged from compromise efforts and dismissive of all pending deals.
  • Mara Liasson [07:12]:

    “President Trump is really not invested in doing what past presidents have done… He didn't seem interested in doing that.”

  • Donald Trump, quoted [07:46]:

    “I don't want to comment until I see the deal… I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it.”

6. Intra-Party Divisions

• Republicans Split:
  • The main partisan disagreement now is GOP House vs. GOP Senate, rather than Republicans vs. Democrats.
  • Sam Greenglass [08:27]:

    “Republicans in this Congress have really taken their cues from President Trump… in the absence of that, that opens up the space for disagreement between the House and the Senate.”

7. Who Gets the Blame? Public Perceptions

• Diffuse Blame:
  • Historically, the ruling party gets blamed. But with widespread cynicism, little lasting political harm is expected for either side.
  • Mara Liasson [09:04]:

    “I don't see either party getting more blame or credit for this mess. I really don't. I think when lines go away at the airports… this is gonna just recede from voters’ memories.”

• Voter Fatigue:
  • With several major events crowding the political calendar, most voters may forget the shutdown before the midterms.
  • Sam Greenglass [09:36]:

    “We were asking voters who they blamed for that record long shutdown. And I think it's pretty likely that a lot of those people don't even remember that shutdown at this point.”

8. The Fate of ICE Reforms

• Democrats' Position Weakening:
  • As time passes, Democrats may lose leverage—especially as the controversy over the Minneapolis shootings fades from the public eye.
  • The three key ICE reforms Democrats want:
    • No more masks for ICE agents
    • Judicial warrants for entry
    • Body cameras for ICE officers
  • Mara Liasson [11:13]:

    “…the top three reforms are are no more masks worn by ICE agents, judicial warrants before they go into somebody's home and body cameras.”

• Partial Republican Openness:
  • The White House is open to some, but not all, reforms (body cameras, sensitive locations), blocking non-negotiables (judicial warrants, mask bans).
  • Sam Greenglass [11:44]:

    “The White House has indicated some openness to some of these policy changes... But the White House has really pushed back on other changes... Democrats had really yet to convince Republicans in the White House to come on board.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Congressional Dysfunction:

  “I really think that it kind of illustrates how dysfunctional Washington has become.”
  — Mara Liasson [07:12]

• On Trump’s Lack of Engagement:

  “I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it.”
  — Donald Trump [07:46]

• On Public Cynicism:

  “Voters are even more cynical and disgusted with the dysfunction of Congress. But maybe in the end they won't have to stand in a long line at an airport.”
  — Mara Liasson [04:59]

• On Voter Short Memory:

  “I think it's pretty likely that a lot of those people don't even remember that shutdown at this point.”
  — Sam Greenglass [09:36]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Senate deal details and limits: 00:50–01:51
• Why the House rejected the deal: 01:54–02:48
• Airport lines and public impact: 02:49–03:15
• Trump’s emergency fix: 03:15–04:17
• Political stalemate after Trump action: 04:17–05:30
• Why GOP leadership is fractured: 06:57–08:20
• Intra-GOP fights and blame game: 08:20–10:11
• ICE reform details and party stances: 10:49–12:41

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Summary Table: ICE Reform Demands

| Reform | Supported by GOP/WH? | Stance in Negotiations | |--------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------------| | Body cameras | Some openness | WH open, but not agreed | | No mask policy | GOP opposes | Seen as non-negotiable by Dems | | Judicial warrants | GOP/WH oppose | No progress | | Sensitive location limits | Some openness | WH potentially open |

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Takeaways

• The Senate’s compromise to fund DHS without ICE/Border Patrol funding collapsed in the House due to GOP demands for the Save America Act and enforcement funding.
• President Trump’s move to pay TSA agents aims to neutralize public outrage but reduces leverage for a legislative resolution.
• Both parties leave the fight empty-handed, with little sign voters will penalize either side—especially as news cycles move on.
• Democrats’ push for ICE reform is losing traction as the shutdown drags on and public interest fades.
• Washington’s current dysfunction is laid bare, even with unified government—largely due to President Trump’s disengagement from dealmaking.

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Summary by [Your AI Expert Podcast Summarizer]. If you missed the episode, this should catch you up on everything that matters—minus the ads and filler.

Transcript

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[Ashley Lopez]

Hey there. It's the NPR Politics podcast. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics.

[Sam Greenglass]

I'm Sam Greenglass. I cover Congress.

[Mara Liasson]

And I'm Mara Liasson, senior national political correspondent.

[Ashley Lopez]

And today on the show, we're going to be talking about the continuing saga of funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Let's start with Friday, though, when it seemed like the Senate had a deal that might solve this entire thing. But Sam, tell us about the Senate compromise first before we get into what happened to it.

[Sam Greenglass]

So sometime after 2am on Friday morning, the Senate came together on a deal that would fund almost all of the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA and the Coast Guard, but it would exclude funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. This is something that Democrats had been refusing to fund after the shootings of those two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers. And Republicans had pushed back on not funding DHS fully. But as lines at airports got worse over the course of the week, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate were able to come together around this deal.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. Can you tell me what was in there about, like, really the center of all this, which is the reforms that Democrats wanted to happen at ice? What was in the plan to deal with all that?

[Sam Greenglass]

Nothing. This deal included none of the policy changes that Democrats had been pushing for over the course of these last several weeks. What Democrats did get out of this is no new funding for ICE and for Border Patrol, but no policy changes specifically.

[Ashley Lopez]

All right, so what happened in the House?

[Sam Greenglass]

So there was all this optimism that a deal was at hand. The Senate actually left town for a two week recess. But then when it got over to the House side very quickly, it became apparent that House Republicans were not going to be behind this deal, particularly conservatives in the House Republican Caucus, because this did not include the Save America act, this voting law overhaul that President Trump and his allies in Congress have been pushing. And so instead, House Republicans said they were gonna put forward a 60 day extension of DHS funding that would include money for ICE and Customs and Border Protection. It has been made very clear by Democrats in the Senate that that is unacceptable to them. And the minority party in the Senate does have some power. And so right now this has ended up at a standstill. And Congress is not in session for two weeks. So this shutdown is gonna continue for a little while longer at least.

[Sponsor Messages]

Yeah.

[Ashley Lopez]

Amar, I wanna talk about, like, where the politics of all this stands now. The main way in which the general public has been feeling the effects of this shutdown is by those record long lines at airport security lines. That's because the Transportation Security Administration workers are not getting paid right now. So you're seeing a lot of them either call out sick or completely just quit. And President Trump, in the meantime, has stepped in with his own fix to this particular problem. Can you explain what he did?

[Mara Liasson]

Donald Trump issued what's called a presidential memorandum where he said that there was an emergency situation and that allows him to order the TSA agents to be paid, presumably out of money that DHS got in the one big, beautiful bill. They got a tremendous amount of money, $75 billion. So if that goes through, and I don't see anybody with the standing or inclination to challenge that in court, the TSA agents will start getting paid. The White House has said maybe as early as today, and the lines should disappear. If they do, that certainly takes away one of the biggest political pressure points for Congress. If they're no long TSA lines, there's no real motivation for them to come to a compromise, because they haven't been able to yet. We've got the President, a Republican Congress who cannot figure out how to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. And back to Trump's fix on all this. Do we have a sense of, like, how this would actually work or whether this will actually work?

[Mara Liasson]

You mean signing the order and getting the paid should work? I mean, like I said, who is going to challenge this in court? The Department of Homeland Security has a tremendous amount of money. That's not the problem. They have money that was already appropriated to them in the one big, beautiful bill. What they don't have is this year's appropriation.

[Sam Greenglass]

Even though DHS is without funding for this fiscal year, they have tons of money to work with. So ICE has been able to continue their duties throughout all of this, unlike some other agencies where workers are going unpaid. And so, you know, even as Democrats try and withhold money for ice, it's not really doing much to prevent ICE agents from doing their job.

[Mara Liasson]

And presumably some of those funds would be tapped to pay the TSA agents. The bottom line, though, politically, is that Democrats did not get the reforms in ICE they wanted, and Republicans didn't get the SAVE act, which is what Donald Trump has said is really his one and only legislative priority. So both parties end up without meeting their political goals. Voters are even more cynical and disgusted with the dysfunction of Congress. But maybe in the end they won't have to stand in a long line at an airport.

[Ashley Lopez]

All right, we're going to take a quick break. More in a moment.

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[Ashley Lopez]

and we're back. And Mara, Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House, but they still can't seem to get a funding deal across the line. Why is it that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and the president can't seem to get on the same page about this?

[Mara Liasson]

Well, that is an excellent question, and I really think that it kind of illustrates how dysfunctional Washington has become. But I think the main reason is that President Trump is really not invested in doing what past presidents have done, rolling up his sleeves, calling in the leaders of both chambers to the White House, especially when they're both from his own party and trying to hammer out a compromise, Donald Trump didn't do that. He didn't seem interested in doing that. And as a matter of fact, when he was asked about the various compromises that were floating around to get the DHS fully funded, he didn't seem to like any of them. Here's what he said.

[Donald Trump]

Well, I don't want to comment until I see the deal, but as you know, they're negotiating a deal. I guess they're getting fairly Close. But I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it.

[Mara Liasson]

Yeah, not happy with it. I can't think of a single big compromise or problem solved in Washington that didn't involve the president getting involved, especially with members of his own party. They are so loyal to him. And if he wanted this funding to happen, he could have hammered out a compromise, but he doesn't seem motivated to do that.

[Ashley Lopez]

But Sam, like, where does this leave congressional leaders? Like, what kind of position are they in with the president saying, like, there's like no deal here that I think I'm going to like.

[Sam Greenglass]

I mean, Republicans in this Congress have really taken their cues from President Trump when it comes to deciding a policy direction. And in the absence of that, that opens up the space for disagreement between the House and the Senate. You know, we're not really talking in this particular moment about disagreements between Democrats and Republicans. This now is a fight between House Republicans and Senate Republicans.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. I want to talk about the big political question here, which is like, who is to blame? Or at least who voters will blame in all this. Can I hear from both of you of like, where you think blame lies now? Or at least from the from the perspective of voters, like, who's to blame?

[Mara Liasson]

Well, you know, in the past when there were government shutdowns or mini ones like this, the party in power usually suffered more politically. They're responsible. Republicans control all three branches of government. In this case, I think that voters are so cynical and fed up with Congress, I don't see either party getting more blame or credit for this mess. I really don't. I think when lines go away at the airports, presumably they will, but once TSA agents get paid, this is gonna just recede from voters memories.

[Sam Greenglass]

I would also just point out that last fall we were asking voters who they blamed for that record long shutdown. And I think it's pretty likely that a lot of those people don't even remember that shutdown at this point. Think of all of the stuff that has happened between then and now. We've had the fight over health subsidies. We've had conflict in Iran, Venezuela, ice. And as Mara's saying, think of all of the things that could happen in the next couple of months before voters are actually thinking about who they're going to elect in the midterm elections.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. And how salient a fight over funding is compared to things like what's happening in Iran. Right. Yeah.

[Mara Liasson]

Look, it's very hard to make predictions, especially about the future, but I would say that if you really wanna look for some kind of a candidate that will prosper in this. It's somebody who's running against an incumbent. And that's about as simple as it could get.

[Sam Greenglass]

Yeah. I mean, there have been so many moments in this Congress where it looks like maybe Republicans and Democrats, the House and the Senate can come together around some kind of solution to a problem that polls suggest the public wants to be solved. Like the expiring health care subsidies, like reforms to tactics of federal immigration officers. And then in the end that deal ultimately crumbles. Yeah.

[Ashley Lopez]

And as time passes, I mean, I assume that this becomes a bigger problem mostly for Democrats, because, you know, at the core of this dispute are these reforms Democrats are demanding for ice. You know, that was after federal immigration officers killed two American citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year. I do wonder from both of you, as those deaths get further in the rearview mirror, do Democrats lose some public support for their stance? Does this get harder to fight for?

[Mara Liasson]

I don't know. The things they're fighting for are pretty popular. The top three reforms are are no more masks worn by ICE agents, judicial warrants before they go into somebody's home and body cameras. But I think for the most part Democrats can say, hey, we were for these things that most Americans want and the Republicans wouldn't do it.

[Sponsor Messages]

Yeah.

[Ashley Lopez]

And I do wonder, Sam, from the list of reforms that Mara just talked about, like what has buy in from Republicans and where is there a tougher climb?

[Sam Greenglass]

The White House has indicated some openness to some of these policy changes that Mara mentioned, specifically requiring officer worn body cameras, preventing immigration enforcement operations in so called sensitive places like hospitals and schools. But the White House has really pushed back on other changes. The requiring judicial warrants to enter homes and businesses, the banning of masks. And Democrats had really yet to convince Republicans in the White House to come on board for what they consider to be non negotiables. Though I should say that Senate Majority Leader John Thune last week said that the time for negotiating over these is over. Democrats should have taken what was on the table, that they were not going to ever get some of these things. And so it's unclear now, even with this funding fight still ongoing, whether this reform conversation will come back into being or Congress is going to be entering a midterm cycle with no changes having been initiated.

[Ashley Lopez]

Wow. Well, a lot to watch there. All right, let's leave it there for today. Before we go, a request, if you like this show, please share it with a friend and make sure you don't miss an episode by hitting the follow button. Wherever you get your podcasts I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics.

[Sam Greenglass]

I'm Sam Greenglass, I cover Congress.

[Mara Liasson]

And I'm Mara Liasson, senior national political correspondent.

[Ashley Lopez]

And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics podcast. Foreign.

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