Dhs Funding Impasse Here To Stay As Administration Ratches Up Pressure

The Trump administration is taking actions to increase the sense of urgency to fund the Department of Homeland Security. But lawmakers calling for reforms to the agency are feeling little urgency to cede ground, indicating the funding standoff could continue for weeks to come.

The most recent move came Friday, when DHS leadership disbursed billions of dollars in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund and warned that its coffers are running low. In the past week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also briefly halted the Transportation Security Agency’s PreCheck program and paused counterterrorism grants to help with security at this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have withheld support for the DHS funding bill said they see the moves as reflecting bad management on the part of the Trump administration, rather than upping urgency for a compromise from their side.

“They’re putting pain on the American people when they could be doing something positive for them,” said Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

One reason for the resolve: The Trump administration moves aren’t necessarily mandated by the shutdown. Even after the Friday disbursal, FEMA still has billions left to distribute on disaster relief and other priorities.

And, so far at least, there are few obvious public signs of the impasses there were in previous shutdowns, when many TSA agents called in sick to protest being forced to work without pay.

The Trump administration is hoping that its moves will eventually prompt some Senate Democrats to split off and back a Republican-led funding bill that provides for no changes to tactics or training of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers amid outrage over the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by agents in Minneapolis.

Democrats have so far refused to fund the department, arguing that major changes — including enhanced training and a ban on agents wearing masks during operations — are still needed to the practices of U.S. immigration agencies.

Boosting them is a continued flood of public and private polling data that shows Americans have soured on the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement.

Democrats have pointed to a Feb. 13 poll commissioned by the Senate Majority PAC, which works to elect Democrats to the Senate, that found a majority of Americans support Democrats holding up DHS funding until changes are made to ICE practices.

“Our caucus is very unified seeking reforms, and so are the American people,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said. “The American people have been rightly horrified by these brutal violent practices and the lawlessness of an agency that’s out of control, so I think we’re pretty unified in demanding change.”

The administration also has expressed little willingness to budge and said it is Democrats who need to compromise. The White House sent its latest DHS funding offer to Congress on Friday, but it is unclear if it provides for any changes to immigration enforcement practices. Asked about the latest funding proposal, a White House official said “Democrats need to make a move to end the shutdown before more Americans are harmed by a lack of funding for critical services like disaster relief.”

The White House’s unwillingness to make concessions has also rankled Republicans who are demanding reforms. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who has sharply criticized Noem, voiced disappointment that the White House is not acknowledging that part of the conversation revolves around the crisis of confidence in Trump’s embattled DHS chief.

“This is about, in part, a legitimate argument about why would we fund an organization that has an incompetent leader at the top?” Tillis said. “What I hate is no acknowledgement of the fundamental problems that led to the tragic events in Minneapolis.”

The administration made some changes to ICE’s operations after the shootings in Minneapolis, including mandating the use of body cameras. But reports of ICE misconduct have continued to surface, most recently with the Thursday detention of a Columbia University student by ICE agents who misrepresented themselves to enter a campus building.

Unlike the last government shutdown, where shortages in the number of air traffic controllers and potential disruptions to air travel before Thanksgiving added to the pressure Democrats felt to fund the government, the rest of the government has already been funded. And DHS’ activities are largely less visible to most Americans than widespread cancellations of flights before a holiday.

The move to restrict TSA PreCheck, which DHS reversed quickly after pressure from the White House, and Global Entry, adds to lines at airports. But it primarily affects a small percentage of mostly more regular and affluent travelers who pay for the expedited screening.

FEMA, especially in the wake of major winter storms, could be a different story. The shutdown, which prompted the furlough of much of the agency’s staff, is expected to only exacerbate existing logjams in disbursing funds.

Noem has adopted a policy where she must personally approve any contract worth more than $100,000. Noem’s sluggish rate of disbursing FEMA grants predates the recent funding battle and has drawn bipartisan condemnation throughout Trump’s first year in office. That meant that before Friday, FEMA still had roughly $10 billion left in its budget to allocate for disaster relief.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee called Noem's move to disburse funds "a transparent political ploy" given that until the shutdown, Noem "personally prevented disaster aid from reaching Americans trying to rebuild and recover."

DHS did not respond to a request for comment.

Many DHS grants beyond disaster aid are also disbursed via FEMA. That includes counterterrorism and security grants for cities and states hosting events and matches accompanying the FIFA World Cup this summer. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill provided $625 million in security grants for cities, but most of that money has not been distributed.

That’s made the agency shutdown particularly worrying for advocacy groups and local officials who need FEMA grants to foot the bill for security at events around the World Cup.

Noem has blamed issues disbursing FIFA funds on the government shutdown, even though DHS had set a Jan. 30 deadline for it to actually award funding to eligible states and municipalities.

Most Senate Republicans, for now, are siding with the White House on refusing to negotiate changes to ICE. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told reporters Wednesday it’s only a matter of time before Democrats cave if DHS employees start missing paychecks and other crises grow where FEMA is paralyzed.

“There are going to be other critical issues that are going to occur and they’re going to want FEMA involved. And if FEMA’s been shut down, it’s pretty difficult to go back home and justify why you’re holding FEMA at fault because you’re mad at ICE and ICE has already been funded,” Rounds said.

An off-ramp could come if senators agree to split immigration funding provisions from provisions funding other parts of DHS. Tillis suggested that he’d be open to a funding package that would separate FEMA and TSA funding from immigration funding.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), one of the Democrats who joined Republicans in passing legislation to stop the last government shutdown this past fall, said “that’s a leadership call, but I think there is significant sentiment in our caucus” for splitting the bills.

“You’ve got 11 of the 12 bills done. Why not get four-fifths of the 12th bill done, and then continue the battle about ICE?” Kaine said.