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

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.