GOP leaders move to shutdown-proof DHS funding as stalemate nears 50 days

House conservatives on a GOP conference call today are expressing frustration with how Speaker Mike Johnson is handling funding for the Department of Homeland Security, multiple sources tell Fox News.

"People are mad at Johnson," one source familiar with the call said. 

Johnson last week led House Republican members in firmly rejecting the Senate's DHS funding plan, which was to fund most of DHS immediately then come back for ICE and CBP funding with a GOP-only reconciliation bill. Then in a major reversal yesterday, he embraced the plan.  

Another source familiar told FOX that conservatives say they don’t want to isolate ICE and CBP to leave them out to dry. And that it's not just House Freedom Caucus members who feel that way, but a broad group of conservatives, the source said. 

“A lot of frustration," the source said. "Does feel like whiplash."

Yet another source familiar with the call said it was "pretty bad."

Added another: "Not happy. Not willing to vote for anything that defunds law enforcement absent tangible action from Senate. Thune should call Senate back today."

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Tyler Olsen and Kelly Phares.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer attempted to shift blame for the Department of Homeland Security shutdown onto House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday.

Schumer made the statement during an appearance on CNN, saying the House failed to pass the DHS funding bill approved by the Senate early Thursday morning.

"The Republicans are hardly unified. Johnson, for the second time, rejected a proposal made this morning by John Thune with unanimous consent support of all the Republicans to fund the DHS agencies like the Coast Guard, like FEMA, like CISA, which we need," Schumer claimed.

"This is now clearly the Johnson shutdown. It's a Republican shutdown. All he had to do was put that bill on the floor and it would have passed overwhelmingly. So the Republicans are hardly unified. They're squirming about [how] Democrats for three months, or three weeks rather, have been trying to fund all of the other agencies. We're not gonna fund a lawless ICE or CPB, but we've been trying fund TSA, we've been trying to find Coast Guard, and the Republicans have blocked it repeatedly," he added.

The House is expected to vote on the Senate bill on April 13.

Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., says Democrats shouldn't be celebrating after the Senate passed a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer crowed that Republicans had "caved" in passing the bill, which does not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection.

Quigley highlighted that Republicans plan to pass further funding for ICE and CBP through an appropriations bill, leaving Democrats with no way to leverage reforms in the organizations.

"I'm not sure we should be taking a victory lap or declaring victory," Quigley told the outlet. "The bottom line is, the Republicans are going to do anything to avoid reforming ICE. I mean, the reason we held out and the reason this mattered is because reforming ICE was extremely important to every American. So I don't see that happening if reconciliation works this way."

President Donald Trump's presence at the Supreme Court this week may not sway the justices, who appeared skeptical of the president's push to curb birthright citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

But Trump's historic appearance — no sitting president has attended oral arguments at the high court before — showcased the president's great interest in his landmark effort to upend more than a century of legal precedent that allowed automatic citizenship to those born in the U.S.

And the president's presence at the Supreme Court may pack a political punch by energizing MAGA voters ahead of the midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their fragile House and Senate majorities.

"Immigration is the issue that has most defined Donald Trump during his time as a national political figure, and his record on border security remains one of the core accomplishments of his second term," longtime Republican strategist Colin Reed told Fox News Digital.

Reed emphasized that "even if the Supreme Court does not side with his perspective in this particular case, the president is making clear that he is not abandoning his commitment to the broader issue."

Trump's appearance at the court came as Republicans and Democrats are slugging it out over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Paul Steinhauser.

As a Homeland Security shutdown drags on, the top Senate Republican says Democrats are getting "zero" of the reforms they demanded.

Congressional Democrats have taken victory laps, viewing the outcome as a key win in their push for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They have also accused congressional Republicans of caving to their demands.

While the Senate’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deal includes funding for ICE and much of CBP, it does not include the structural reforms Democrats spent the last 48 days pushing.

When asked whether Republicans gave in, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News' "America's Newsroom," "No, we didn’t cave."

"I mean, ultimately, what the Democrats did, you could say ... this was all about ‘reforms,’ restrictions on ICE and CBP agents and what they could or couldn’t do," Thune said. "They got none of that. They got zero of the reforms they were advocating for."

Thune was responding to accusations from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who argued that "House Republicans caved" after backing down from their push for a 60-day funding extension for the agency.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Alex Miller.

President Donald Trump thanked Republican leaders on Congress for working to secure funding for the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday.

Trump also announced that he would "soon" sign an executive order funding DHS employees until the bill comes to his desk. While the Senate approved the DHS bill Thursday morning, the House is not expected to vote on it until April 13.

"Thank you to all of our Great Congressional Republicans, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Senate Leader John Thune, for their work this week. Republicans are UNIFIED, and moving forward on a plan that will reload funding for our FANTASTIC Border Patrol and Immigration Enforcement Officers," Trump wrote.

"Because the Democrats are fully and 100% committed to the Radical Left Policy of Open Borders and Zero Immigration Enforcement (which will hopefully cost them dearly in the Midterms!), allowing Murderers and Criminals of all types into our Country, totally unchecked and unvetted, I will soon sign an order to pay ALL of the incredible employees at the Department of Homeland Security," Trump continued.

"Their families have suffered far too long at the hands of the Extreme Liberal 'Leaders,' Cryin’ Chuck Schumer and Hakeem 'High Tax' Jeffries. Nevertheless, help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country," he added.

The Senate passed a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday morning, sending the legislation to the House for approval.

The House held a brief pro forma session Thursday morning after the Senate passed the bill, but did not take any action on it. The House will next convene for a pro forma session on Monday, but the bill is not expected to go up for a full vote until April 13, when lawmakers return to Washington for the new session.

While House Speaker Mike Johnson has thrown his support behind the bill, some GOP lawmakers remain frustrated because it does not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection.

ICE and CBP have funding through the end of the year, and President Donald Trump has called on Congress to pass another three years of funding via an appropriations bill. Trump said he wants that legislation on his desk by June 1.

The House of Representatives adjourned Thursday morning without passing the Senate's bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

The Senate passed the bill, which funds all of DHS aside from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, earlier Thursday morning in a voice vote.

The House was in a pro forma session and received word that the Senate had sent the bill back to the House.

The House will not be back in session until another pro forma on Monday.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune blasted Democrats for stonewalling negotiations over the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday.

Thune told reporters at the Capitol that Democrats had "no interest" in pursuing reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and were rather using the issue to block President Donald Trump's agenda.

Thune said calls for changes at DHS were not a "serious effort."

The senator went on to defend Thursday morning's vote that moved forward with a plan to fund DHS minus ICE and CBP over complaints from his House counterparts.

"I think that there are just limited options," Thune said. "Which is, which is what I was convinced of at the time that we moved. And, you know, my question for everybody who doesn't like what we did is, give me a better idea, give me another option. And so we'll see, you know, ultimately, what the House does with it."

The 48-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown is one step closer to ending after the Senate moved to fund most of the department Thursday morning.

The Senate agreed via voice vote to send a bipartisan deal funding the whole department except for President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement and border security efforts to the House for consideration.

The chamber is not expected to vote on the legislation until House lawmakers return to Washington on April 13. 

The Senate vote follows GOP leaders endorsing a two-track approach to funding DHS on Wednesday, with President Trump giving lawmakers a hard deadline to end the record-breaking funding lapse. 

The Senate bill accomplishes the first phase of the plan by working with Democrats to fund as much of DHS as possible on a bipartisan basis. However, it would zero out funding for ICE and much of the Border Patrol, save for $11 billion in customs funding going to the agency. Additionally, $10 billion teed up for ICE won't be funded under the measure.

As for ICE and the Border Patrol, Republicans have said they will seek three full years of funding for both of these agencies in a party-line budget reconciliation package that will bypass Democrats’ opposition. Trump says he wants the forthcoming bill on his desk by June 1.

"We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. 

The Senate bill’s passage on Thursday was a déjà vu moment for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who helped steer the same measure through the upper chamber last week.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Adam Pack.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Fox News on Thursday that he is confident the White House will act to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol funded until a wider appropriations bill can be passed.

Thune said he was basing his confidence on recent conversations with the White House. President Donald Trump has called for Congress to get an appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security to his desk by June 1.

The new appropriations strategy avoids the need for 60 votes in the Senate, allowing Republicans to pass the legislation with a simple majority.

Fox News' Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., admitted during a town hall Tuesday that Democrats were responsible for blocking funding for the Department of Homeland Security that led to the ongoing partial shutdown of the government agency.

While speaking at a town hall in Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, Omar explained that she and fellow Democrats refused to back a funding bill unless changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were included. 

Her remarks came as Congress remained in a standoff over DHS funding, with lawmakers divided over whether immigration agencies should be funded without additional restrictions.

"As many of you know, Democrats said we are not going to pass the appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security unless they agreed to ten reforms, simple things like unmasking ICE agents when they were patrolling our communities," Omar said.

She said those proposals were not accepted by Republicans or the White House, framing the disagreement as the central reason the department remained partially unfunded.

"So far, the Republicans and the president have refused to say ‘yes’ to any of those reforms," Omar said, referring to the ongoing negotiations.

The dispute left several DHS components without full funding as lawmakers debated competing proposals that would either fund the entire department or exclude immigration enforcement agencies.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' CJ Womak

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration will extend tax filing deadlines for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel as the ongoing shutdown intensifies financial pressure on thousands of federal workers.

The Treasury Department and IRS will announce a 30-day automatic tax filing extension for affected employees, shielding them from penalties and interest. 

The partial government shutdown is in its 47th day, intensifying pressure on federal workers.

Such broad tax relief is highly unusual and typically reserved for major disasters and other extraordinary circumstances, underscoring the severity of the current shutdown.

"The continued shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has created unnecessary disruptions, placing an unfair burden on DHS personnel and their families," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

"We are committed to supporting our hard-working DHS officers and employees so they can stay focused on their mission and keep the American people safe without being penalized for missing a tax filing deadline."

Under the measure, affected workers will now have until May 15, 2026, to file their taxes and pay what they owe without facing additional financial penalties. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Amanda Macias.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown became the longest funding lapse in history over the weekend, but the standoff could take several more months to fully resolve.

With President Donald Trump giving Republicans a June 1 deadline to fund the entire department, blame is flying between both parties while top Republicans present a unified front after several days of infighting.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of DHS employees are struggling to pay their bills. American travelers, too, are enduring longer-than-usual wait times at major airports.

As the shutdown continues to drag on, here is a glimpse at the biggest winners and losers of the funding lapse so far.

LOSER: GOP divisions

Though Republicans were largely unified during the fall 2025 shutdown, internal divisions have erupted in the current funding fight.

House GOP leadership fiercely rejected a bipartisan Senate deal on Friday that sought to fund most of DHS while punting money for ICE and CBP to a future funding vehicle. GOP lawmakers in the House then approved a rival proposal temporarily funding the whole department, even as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., labeled it "dead on arrival" in the upper chamber.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told GOP colleagues over the weekend that he would not bring lawmakers back to Washington for a "show vote" that is destined to fail.

Johnson, however, continued to insist his conference’s proposal was the best solution to end the stalemate.

"The Senate has to do their job and help us on this heavy lift," the speaker said on "Fox & Friends" Tuesday, adding that the Senate failing to make sure ICE and CBP are funded was an "outrageous" move.

Trump appeared to break the impasse when he called on Republicans on Wednesday to fund immigration enforcement and border security in a forthcoming budget reconciliation package — a move aligned with Senate Republicans’ preferred approach to end the shutdown.

Johnson and Thune issued a joint statement shortly after, endorsing Trump's June 1 deadline in a notable display of unity. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Adam Pack.

Republican leaders are rallying around President Donald Trump's new approach to end the 47-day Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding lapse — a plan that could make the agency shutdown-proof for the rest of Trump's term.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday that DHS will be funded along "two parallel tracks," meaning that the president's immigration and border security agenda will receive an influx of money through a party-line reconciliation bill. The rest of DHS is funded through the normal appropriations process.

"We operated under a belief that while our country is in the midst of an international armed conflict, Democrats might finally come to their senses and understand that defunding our homeland security agencies is beyond reckless and very dangerous," Johnson and Thune wrote in a joint statement. "We cannot allow Democrats to any longer put the safety of the American public at risk through their open border policies, so we are taking that off the table."

The GOP leaders added that a forthcoming budget reconciliation package will include three years of immigration enforcement and border security funding. That move could prevent Democrats from using the appropriations process as leverage over the president's immigration agenda for the remainder of his term.

The GOP leaders' budget reconciliation push comes as Republican efforts to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through regular order have stalled in the Senate due to widespread opposition from Democrats.

With the Senate’s 60-vote legislative threshold in place, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., effectively has veto power over DHS appropriations if he keeps his caucus in line.

To end the stalemate, Trump asked Republicans Wednesday to draft a budget reconciliation package funding immigration enforcement and border security that could pass both chambers without any Democratic support.

"We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "We will not allow them to hurt the families of these Great Patriots by defunding them."

The president added that he wants the legislation on his desk by June 1.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Adam Pack.