The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security will stretch into its 11th day after the Senate failed to pass a bill reopening the agency on Tuesday evening.
The Senate voted 50-45 to advance a bill funding DHS through the rest of the fiscal year, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed to move forward. The measure failed due to mounting opposition from Senate Democrats, who say more must be done to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after the deaths of two U.S. citizens last month.
Utah Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis both voted in favor of funding DHS.
“So far (the White House has) not budged on key issues,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on Tuesday. “They’re not negotiating.”
The White House has been directly engaging with Senate Democrats in terms of negotiations, with the two parties exchanging offers and counteroffers over the last two weeks. However, the two remain “far apart,” the White House has said as Democrats say administration officials haven’t been engaged.
“There hasn’t been any real recent communication with the White House. Our position as Democrats continues to be: We need dramatic, meaningful, bold, transformational reform with ICE,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said on Tuesday. “Until Republicans come to that conclusion, the DHS funding bill is not going to be able to move forward.”
While Democrats and the White House have been passing proposals back and forth, details of the negotiations have not been made public. However, leaders in both parties have indicated they are still far from a deal — with each placing the blame on the other for the partial government shutdown that took effect earlier this month.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said there have been a handful of concessions made by the White House in terms of policy demands, but there remain some sticking points that Democrats say must be made in order to finalize a deal.
Among those are judicial warrants, a key demand from Democrats to prevent unlawful arrests or deportations — but has been deemed a nonstarter for Republicans.
It’s not clear how long the partial shutdown will last as its effects will be mostly mitigated, unlike the other two shutdowns that have already taken place over the last six months.
One of the most crucial agencies covered by DHS funding is the Transportation Security Administration, which oversees safety and logistical operations at U.S. airports. Another major department funded under DHS funding is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is responsible for disaster preparedness, response and recovery nationwide.