WASHINGTON – A fiery debate broke out in the Senate on Wednesday, March 11, as lawmakers faced intensifying pressure amidthe Iran warandgrowing airport security linestoend the monthlong partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
The Senate once more opted against even partially reopening the agency after Democrats tried to unanimously pass a bill to fully fund most of its contents except for (crucially)Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protectionand the Office of the Secretary.
Republicans blocked the measure, saying they couldn't support a bill that disregards immigration enforcement.
"We're not going back to the era of defund the police," said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, akey figure in the talks to end the shutdown. "We're not doing it."
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Republicans and Democrats shouted at each other on the Senate floor against an increasingly dire political backdrop.
As thewar in Iran rapidly escalates, lawmakers have warned that critical antiterrorism divisions within the 9/11-era Cabinet agency are facing staff and resource shortages. At the same time, security lineshave begun to snake longer at airportsacross the country, as workers at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is part of Homeland Security, continue to go unpaid.
As is always the case with shutdowns, the pain has started to grow in more visible ways, pulling focus from the reason it started in the first place.
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In this case, Democrats, horrified by the killings ofAlex Prettiand Renee Nicole Good by federal agents in Minneapolis, dug their feet in last month and refused to fund the agency that houses ICE and Border Patrol.
Since then, they've been negotiating with congressional Republicans and the White House over potential reforms to federal immigration enforcement. Among other things,they want a ban on masks for agents, more requirements for officers to wear body-worn cameras and a commitment to no raids without warrants from a judge.
Republicans have said some of those asks, including the mask ban, are nonstarters. They've been more amenable to other requests, though, like the body-worn cameras demand.President Donald Trump ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last weekin a move many Democrats were happy to see, but it didn't immediately change their minds on funding the department.
Speaking on the Senate floor, a visibly upset Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, accused Democrats of allowing the latest counterproposal from the Trump administration, which he said "went further" than many Democrats expected, to languish for two weeks.
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"This is a one-sided negotiation," he said.
Washington's Patty Murray, the top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, shot back that her party doesn't want to negotiate with Republicans if they'll just be overruled by the White House.
"I am willing to talk to people," she said. "But I'm not willing to sit in a room, have coffee, give away a few things, and then have (Trump adviser) Stephen Miller override whatever we all agree to."
Read more:White House says Trump's SAVE Act threat not applicable to DHS funding
Terrorism risks, TSA lines growing
The stakes of the DHS shutdown are only getting higher.
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said that Coast Guard men and women, including those in harm's way in Bahrain because of the war,"are completing missions without full resources behind them."
Lawmakers and federal officials have also said the Iran conflict has increased the risks of terrorism in the United States. In just the nearly two weeks since the war began, two separate incidents underscored that reality.
On March 1,three people were killed outside a bar in Austin, Texas. The suspect was wearing a "Property of Allah" sweatshirt, and reports indicate he was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the Iranian flag. On March 9, two teenagers were accused of igniting bombs outside the home of New York City's mayor in an attack motivated by the Islamic State,according to a federal complaint.
Simultaneously, travelers are facing TSA lines of up to nearly three hours long at some major airports, causing missed flights and massive delays during peak travel,the TSA told USA TODAYin a statement. Workers only received partial paychecks earlier this month and now face their first full missed paycheck, raising the risk of "crippling staff shortages," according to the agency.
For those reasons, Democrats have continued to push Republicans to pass funding for most of DHS while they work out an immigration enforcement deal with the Trump administration.
"Republicans claim they're worried about TSA and FEMA," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York. "They can't be too worried, because they're blocking it right now."
Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Iran war clouds ICE concerns as DHS shutdown talks remain stalled