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The Department of Homeland Security shutdown continues. And you may not know it, but there is a deal on the table to reopen the department — there just doesn’t seem to be much urgency to come back to D.C. to pass it.
Part of that could be because President Donald Trump has already made executive decisions to pay DHS employees who have been missing their paychecks over the last two-ish months. But part of it is also because Republicans in both chambers just can’t seem to agree on what to pass.
A lot of that boils down to: Senate Republicans are beholden to more obstacles than their House counterparts, who in turn largely say they don’t trust the upper chamber to hold the line on key issues.
Let’s step back to get the full picture here. Last week, in the middle of the night, the Senate passed a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security without immigration enforcement or portions of border patrol.
It passed in a unanimous voice vote, meaning no one objected, so it advanced through the chamber without a roll call vote. Then it was sent over to the House, and the Senate left town for its two-week recess.
That’s what we call a jam: Leaving the other chamber no choice but to pass what you give them, or take the blame for the shutdown continuing.
This happens quite a bit, and usually the House just has to swallow whatever it’s given. But this time, House conservatives were not taking it. And they were pretty mad with Senate Republicans, to put it lightly.
“It is absolutely offensive to the people that we represent, that the Senate would send over a bill that doesn’t fund Border Patrol and the core components of ICE,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told reporters last Friday. “I mean, could the Senate be any more lazy than to send to us a bill that doesn’t do the job and then leave town? So we’re going to stand up and say no to that.”
And they did. The House instead passed a 60-day temporary extension to fund the entirety of the department to buy time for negotiations, a proposal that was dead on arrival with Democrats in the Senate.
But the argument conservatives were making is this: The Senate didn’t do its job.
“We’re dealing with the circumstances we’ve been dealt with in the Senate that has abrogated its duty,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said last week. “We’re doing our duty, we’re doing our due diligence. We’re going to send this back.”
So they sent the eight-week continuing resolution back to the Senate, which met the fate that was expected: It wasn’t even considered. It would have required Democratic support, and the minority party made clear it wasn’t budging.
Both chambers left for recess without a plan. That is until this week, when Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., released a joint statement with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to say they would move ahead with the original plan. The House will pass the Senate deal, and they’ll fund immigration enforcement in a later spending package.
The short version: Even after all that drama, Johnson eventually went with the Senate plan that just days early he called “a joke” and a “crap sandwich.” Yes, seriously.
So what changed? According to Thune, he had to remind House Republicans and the White House the reality he has to deal with in the Senate.
“You’ve got to have to just continue to define reality for people, what’s achievable in the Senate,” Thune said on Thursday.
So now the hard part for Johnson: Sell his party members on a bill that just last week he was criticizing. It’s likely that a good handful of House conservatives will reject that plan. But House Democrats have already signaled they’ll back the plan, ensuring its success.
That could mean more Democrats will vote for the bill than House Republicans, which could end up being a problem for Johnson. Stay tuned to see how he’ll handle it.
For now, there aren’t any plans for the House to return early to pass the DHS spending deal, so the shutdown is expected to last at least another week.
Stories Driving the Week
- Bye-bye, Bondi: Attorney General Pam Bondi was ousted from her position and will be moving to a role in the private sector, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday. She’ll be replaced in the interim by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
- Briny bailout: Trump is expected to send Congress his official budget request on Friday, and included is a hefty sum to improve water flow to the Great Salt Lake and ensure its long-term sustainability, a White House official told the Deseret News, which is the first to report on the budget line.
- Ballroom bust: A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump from moving forward with construction for the new massive $400 million ballroom where the White House East Wing used to be until Congress can weigh in.
Utah Republicans praise decision to move Forest Service headquarters to Salt Lake City
Utah Republicans are welcoming the news that the U.S. Forest Service is moving its headquarters to Salt Lake City, calling it a win for public lands management.
Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, praised the decision as a “big win for Utah and the West,” particularly as the move will place federal officials closer to the forest communities they oversee.
“The move will bring hundreds of jobs to Utah and will bring Forest Service leadership closer to where the work is happening on the ground,” Moore said in a statement. “I’ve been engaged with the agency over the past year on their plans, and I will continue to press them to locate a portion of these jobs in Cache and Weber counties.”
Sen. John Curtis similarly lauded the transition as a way to ensure that decisions are being made by those who are closest to the public lands they represent.
“Nearly 90 percent of our nation’s public lands are located in the West, and the best decisions about how to manage them are made closest to the land itself,” Curtis said in a post on X. “Western communities live with, work on, and steward these lands every day, and bringing leadership closer will lead to more informed, practical, and responsive management.”
Critics of the decision say the move from Washington, D.C., to Utah could undermine the agency by severely downsizing its workforce. When Trump relocated the Bureau of Land Management in his first term, it led about 90% of the agency to leave their posts — prompting concerns the same could happen to the Forest Service.
Still, Utah leaders say “proximity matters” when it comes to the agency’s decision, making it crucial for officials to be located in the West.
“Being in Utah will strengthen local collaboration, improve responsiveness on issues like wildfire and land management, and ensure decisions are informed by on-the-ground realities,” Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, told the Deseret News in a statement. “I support efforts to reduce bureaucracy and better align the U.S. Forest Service with the people it serves.”
Utah’s governor also praised the decision: “With nearly 90% of Forest Service lands west of the Mississippi, moving the U.S. Forest Service headquarters to Salt Lake City will put leadership closer to the lands, communities, and challenges they manage,” Gov. Spencer Cox said in a post on X.
Quick Hits
From the Hill: House and Senate land on deal to reopen DHS, fund ICE in later spending bill. … Church of Jesus Christ backs Blake Moore bill to protect religious groups. … Top House Republican leaders endorse Blake Moore for reelection.
From the White House: Trump calls for swift passage of second policy megabill. … Trump says war with Iran is ‘nearing completion.’ … White House ballroom construction has to stop, judge rules.
From the courts: Birthright citizenship at the Supreme Court — the case that could redefine who is an American. … How one headline shaped the narrative in the Tyler Robinson case. … Will Utah’s conversion therapy law survive Supreme Court ruling?