Something significant just happened in Washington that I’ve been trying to make sense of. The DHS shutdown is now in its sixth week. Democrats repeatedly refused to fund DHS, causing chaos in airports and compromising our national security. On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced his intention to sign an executive order to pay TSA agents and fix the airport situation. With Democrats losing their leverage, they caved and agreed to fund DHS, and they got zero of their proposed constraints on ICE's protocols or tactics.
And then House Speaker Mike Johnson said no.
My first reaction to this was shock and disappointment. It felt like we were on our way to ending the Democrats’ shutdown. Johnson made a stink about the lack of funding for ICE and CBP, even though both agencies are already funded through 2029. Democrats were fighting to restrict an agency that didn't need a single new dime from this bill to keep operating. They literally held DHS hostage for six weeks to stop something that was already funded — and they came away with nothing to show for it. Why did Johnson walk away from that?
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"This has to stop," he said. "The Republicans are not gonna be a party to this. They have taken hostage the funding processes of government so that they can impose their radical agenda on the American people, and we can't have any part of it. This gambit that was done last night is a joke."
🚨 HOLY SMOKES!! Speaker Johnson just told the Senate to SCREW OFF, he's NOT passing their DHS funding deal that leaves out ICE
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 27, 2026
"This GAMBIT that was done last night is a JOKE! It CAN'T be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill!" 🔥🔥🔥
Johnson then READS… pic.twitter.com/uCWnkmM6bl
Instead, Johnson is looking to pass a 60-day full-funding bill. Of course, the Senate is now in recess, so we have another two weeks before anything can happen. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer immediately called the House bill "dead on arrival" in the upper chamber.
Which brings us to the real game here.
In the end, the same roadblock exists. The filibuster. Without 60-votes to invoke cloture, Trump’s agenda is, more often than not, dead in the water. Thune has long resisted changing the filibuster rules, insisting that he can't find the votes to do so. But Johnson's play really puts Thune in a corner. He either needs to find seven Democratic votes or change the rules to eliminate or reform the filibuster.
Johnson is essentially telling the Senate: pick one. This is a high-risk move. Thune is now squeezed between a House that won't budge and a Senate returning from recess to a bill Democrats have already declared dead. The shutdown continues, and Thune and any wobbly Republicans have to decide whether defending the filibuster is worth that ongoing pain, especially when we know that Democrats are going to eliminate it themselves the first chance they get when it suits them.
Is this a smart play? It could be. If Johnson effectively pressures Republicans to reform the filibuster, it means a lot more than just ending the Democrats’ DHS Shutdown; it means that we can pass the SAVE America Act.
