Senate funds DHS without ICE or Border Patrol, heads to House

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Senate agreed to fund the Department of Homeland Security early Friday, without including funds for ICE and Border Patrol. 

The Senate passed the funding bill by a voice vote, where Senators say "Aye" or "Nay" to pass legislation and the chair determines the outcome based on volume of responses. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has gone without funding since Feb. 14. Republicans and Democrats have negotiated back and forth for weeks. President Donald Trump on Thursday offered to sign an order that would pay Transportation Security Administration officers as wait times at major airports stretched. 

"We can get at least some of the government opened up again and then we'll go from there," said Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. "Obviously, we'll still have some work ahead of us."

Throughout the shutdown, Democrats asked for a DHS funding bill that did not include Border Patrol or ICE, in order to further negotiations. Democrats have asked to rein in enforcement policies conducted by ICe and Border Patrol. 

"In the wake of the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Senate Democrats were clear," Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "No blank check for lawless ICE and Border Patrol."

Remaining funding for ICE and Border Patrol will go to a party-line reconciliation vote, where Republicans can seek to secure funding for the agencies without needing Democrat approval. 

The Senate now sends funding for FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard, Secret Service and cybersecurity agencies to the U.S. House of Representatives. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson can either get the legislation passed through a Rules Committee vote or can call a floor vote "under suspension," meaning he would need to get a 2/3 majoirty in favor of the funding bill.