Senate Republicans weigh Dem demand to split DHS bill, turn to short-term extension to avoid shutdown

Senate Democrats plan to block a key test vote to fund the government on Thursday, and some Senate Republicans are already looking for alternatives should their plan fail. 

And the option that they are landing on is one pushed by Democrats, who have vowed to shut down any funding package that included the controversial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill.

Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hastily united over the weekend to reject the DHS funding bill following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti during an immigration operation in Minneapolis and demanded that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., strip the bill from the package. 

Thune, for now, has no intention of doing so. And as the funding deadline draws closer, some Republicans are looking at other options on the table. 

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Some members of the Senate Appropriations Committee are considering supporting stripping the DHS bill from the broader package, and eying a short-term funding extension, or continuing resolution (CR), in the meantime to avoid any closures at the agency. 

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that barring what Senate Democrats proposed for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), he would consider yanking the DHS bill in favor of a CR. 

"It looks to me at this juncture — I could change my mind — at this juncture, the smart play is to carve out the Homeland Security bill, and we can fight over that," Kennedy said. "But in the meantime, try to do a CR and pass the other bills. Now, if my Democratic friends don't want to do that, then they're going to lose all control whatsoever that they could get."

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Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told reporters that "personally," he would support stripping the DHS bill. 

"Yeah, I think I would be, and we're having those kinds of conversations with the Democrats and obviously the White House, but we have to get enough agreement," he said. 

And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has called for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to resign, answered, "yeah," when asked if she would be OK with carving out the bill from the broader funding package. 

The current Homeland Security bill is the product of bipartisan negotiations, and up until the events of this weekend, was on a glide path to passing in the upper chamber. Now, Senate Democrats want to completely retool it and load it with more restrictions on the agency and ICE. 

And most Senate Republicans, including members of Thune's leadership team, aren't willing to adhere to their counterparts' demands. 

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Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital that it would require procedural hurdles in the upper chamber and then the House to return to greenlight a CR, options that were both unlikely in the next few days. 

"Right now, the plan is we're going to run the six bills," Mullin said. "I mean, I'm not sure what the Democrats are trying to get done. I mean, keep in mind that even [Sen.] Patty Murray said that this wouldn't prevent, even if they voted no and shut down DHS, Patty Murray said it wouldn't prevent ice from doing their job." 

And in the House of Representatives, which is in recess until Feb. 2, there’s heavy skepticism that such a plan could pass.

"There is a fine line between impossible and extremely difficult to pass, and what the Senate is talking about would be a package that is walking that tight rope," a senior House GOP aide told Fox News Digital.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said "it would be very unlikely to pass the House" but deferred to Republican leaders in his chamber on what the ultimate move will be.

"The Democratic leadership asked for the bill in one form, we gave it to them, and now they turned around on a dime," he continued. "This Homeland Security bill would be better than a simple continuing resolution because it has body cameras, it has training, and it's a lower budget. We're dealing with the irrationality of politics ahead of sound policy and a negotiated bipartisan, bicameral agreement. And that's unfortunate."

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Another House Republican who spoke with Fox News Digital under the condition of anonymity said the chamber could potentially consider a CR for DHS if Republicans "get something" but did not elaborate on what.
"Splitting it off without getting something tangible is a mistake," they said. 

Thune did not totally kill the idea, but warned that should the Senate take that route it would further complicate the path toward averting a partial shutdown on Friday. 

He argued that if there are demands that Senate Democrats have that the administration can agree to, "let's do that," but the major challenge was that with narrow voting margins in both chambers, and the House beginning to rebel against the notion of splitting the package apart, more headaches could come than solutions. 

"I think the best path forward, as I said, is to keep the package intact," Thune said.