March 26 (UPI) — Senators actively negotiated Thursday on the Department of Homeland Security shutdown ahead of Friday’s deadline and the start of a two-week recess.
Senate Republican leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the GOP’s latest plan — which he called “our last and final offer” — is in the hands of Democrats, and said, “it’s important that we try and close this down and get it done today.”
“Let’s let the Dems react to what’s out there, and hopefully we can find a pathway to drive this to the finish,” CBS News reported Thune said.
He didn’t share details of the plan, but said it’s close to what they offered earlier this week, which Democrats voted down because it didn’t create reforms for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Though recess is scheduled to start this weekend, if the Senate doesn’t agree on a funding bill, Thune said, “I suspect we’ll probably be around here.”
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said Democrats were looking at the offer, but he doesn’t think it’s enough.
“We’re talking through it right now but it’s not where we want it to be,” Kim said. “We just continue to be stuck here.”
He didn’t give details about the offer, but said, “it’s not good enough for me.”
Thune later walked back his “final offer” statement, saying that the GOP senators are willing to work with Democrats to tweak the bill.
“If there’s something that they think needs to be tweaked, one way or the other, as long as that’s a final thing, then we’ll see if it can get done,” Thune said.
“At some point they got to take yes for an answer,” Thune said.
The department has been shut down since Feb. 14 as Democrats and Republicans battle over a funding bill. Democrats don’t want to fund the department without putting some restrictions on ICE enforcement, and Republicans have agreed to some measures but not the ones on which Democrats insist.
Because of this, Transportation Security Administration workers have been working without pay for more than a month. Some are quitting or taking days off work, creating long lines at airports. Trump has sent ICE agents to some airports to help TSA agents.
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told reporters this morning that talks have increased.
“We put options in front of the Democrats, and they just need to quit backing up on us and vote to get DHS funded and TSA agents paid,” CBS reported Hoeven said.
“I’m hoping that as we get to the end of this week — you know how it works around here with deadlines — that that’s going to get us to a point where we get it done,” he said. “But we’re still working.”
Thursday morning, President Donald Trump began a Cabinet meeting by saying that Democrats are “really punishing the American people.”
“They need to end the shutdown immediately, or we’ll have to take some very drastic measures,” he said. He didn’t explain what he meant.
The only Democrat who has voted for the Republican bill was Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. Some Democrats fear that other centrists will defect and vote for the Republican bill, The Hill reported.
Some who voted to reopen the government last fall met with White House border czar Tom Homan last week, including Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; and Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats. So far, they haven’t broken with the Democrats, but there is anxiety that they will, The Hill reported.
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