March 17 (UPI) — The White House is reviewing a proposal from Senate Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The White House submitted its most recent offer to Democrats more than two weeks ago, and Democrats shared their counteroffer Monday, Republicans familiar with the talks told The Hill.
Senate Republican leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that the White House was making concessions.
“I was going over last night some of the gives that the White House had made that went above and beyond any initial offers that they put out there, and there’s a lot of stuff in there,” Thune said.
He told reporters that the White House negotiators agreed to increase funding for body cameras for immigration enforcement officers from $20 million to $100 million. It also proposed audits by the inspector general to screen for “noncompliance.”
“But the Democrats seem intent on dragging out this political issue,” he said.
“What they want to do is they want to defund law enforcement. They want to defund [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], and they want to defund [Customs and Border Protection],” he said. “We got to have a meaningful conversation where we sit down at the table and actually work these issues out. You can’t get there if you’re not sitting down at the table.”
The DHS, which includes the Transportation Security Administration, shut down on Feb. 14 because Congress couldn’t agree on a funding bill for the department. Democrats don’t want to fund it until guardrails are put on the agency, and Republicans haven’t agreed to Democrats’ demands.
Because of this, TSA workers are working without pay. Some are quitting or taking days off work, creating long lines at airports.
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