Forty days. That's how long Senate Democrats have kept the Department of Homeland Security shut down over a dispute that, at its core, comes down to one question: Does the party that lost in 2024 get to dictate immigration enforcement to the party that won?
Things were actually looking good this week. Senate Republicans thought they had a path forward. The plan was to fund all of DHS except ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, then address them separately through reconciliation, bypassing Democratic demands for reforms such as warrant requirements and mask mandates for federal agents. It wasn't perfect. Reconciliation is procedurally complicated, but it was progress. At the very least, DHS would get funded, and there was even talk of getting elements of the SAVE America Art passed this way as well.
Then Chuck Schumer pulled the rug out.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) went on CNN and called him out directly. "Schumer has changed his mind...we're back to square one." On top of that, Senate Majority Leader John Thune's office received no Democratic counteroffer. Democrats just walked away.
Today is day number 40 of the DHS shutdown, and a possible DHS deal in the Senate may be on the rocks.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 25, 2026
As of 9am ET, Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office tells @FoxNews they’ve still received no counter proposal from Democrats after GOP offered to fund all of DHS except…
Schumer now says he wants all of his ICE reforms met before any deal moves. He didn't move toward a compromise. In other words, he moved the goalposts again.
ICYMI: Kevin O’Leary Tells Everyone to ‘Chillax’ Over Iran. Here's Why.
"For nearly six weeks, Democrats in Congress have kept DHS shut down because they cared more about illegal aliens than American citizens," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
LEAVITT🚨: “But it’s important to take a step back and remember why is this even happening in the first place.”
— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) March 25, 2026
“For nearly six weeks, Democrats in Congress have kept DHS shut down because they cared more about illegal aliens than American citizens.”
pic.twitter.com/uVo4tmRwkd
Democratic senators have spent years attacking ICE as an institution, not just criticizing individual policies. To them, removing illegal immigrants is removing Democrat voters, and they’ll never be happy until ICE is dissolved.
For reasons that I cannot explain, Democrats have forgotten that voters in 2024 backed a platform that explicitly included deporting illegal immigrants. ICE is the agency legally tasked with doing exactly that under existing law. Republicans won the White House, the Senate, and the House. Yet Democrats are negotiating like they're the ones who get to call the shots.
It brings to mind what Barack Obama reportedly told GOP leaders back in 2009: "Elections have consequences. I won." That logic apparently only applies when Democrats are in charge.
There is no time for Democrats to be playing games with funding the Department of Homeland Security. The United States is currently in a confrontation with Iran. DHS is responsible for protecting the homeland during exactly this kind of elevated threat environment. That makes the Democrats’ game reckless and dangerous.
I've said for a while now that Senate Democrats aren't negotiating in good faith, and Schumer keeps proving the point. Every time Republicans offer a real concession, Democrats pocket it and demand more. The goal has never been a deal — it's been delay, erosion, and the extraction of as many insane limits on ICE enforcement as possible. Senate Republicans who keep extending olive branches need to reckon with that reality. You can't negotiate a good-faith agreement with a party that has no intention of reaching one.
