Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday laid out what he called a path forward for Republicans as it pertains to stalled Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding.
The Senate voted 52–47 to advance a House-passed full-year DHS funding bill but fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster after Democrats withheld support over immigration enforcement demands. Appearing on “Kudlow,” Thune said Democrats are blocking the broader DHS measure, effectively freezing resources for disaster response, airport security, coastal defense and cyber protection.
“I think they want to make this all about ICE, but it’s so much more than that. It’s FEMA, it’s TSA, it’s the Coast Guard, it’s cyber security. There are a lot of important functions and agencies of government that are funded in that appropriations bill, and the Democrats are making it impossible to pass, so we’re exploring all the options,” Thune told host Larry Kudlow.
Republicans, Thune said, are weighing procedural maneuvers to break the impasse.
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“We’re looking at a Recon 2.0. Obviously we’re having conversations about a potential talking filibuster. That’s challenging because you have to have 50 to stay together to table every single amendment, or this could be an amendment tree with a lot of really bad votes. Perhaps some of that would end up passing that would be to the detriment of the bill and probably sink it,” Thune added. “You want to be strategic and smart about this. But there’s some things that we’re talking about here, which I mentioned should be bipartisan. The housing bill should be bipartisan permanent reform.”
Thune said partisan resistance prevents Congress from delivering on “basic functions of the American government.”
“Those are a whole range of things, a highway bill, farm bill. There are a lot of things out there, Larry, that we could be working on together if the Democrats weren’t afflicted with such a case of Trump derangement syndrome that they are blinded and unable to function in a way that even delivers on the very basic functions of the American government for the American people,” Thune said. (RELATED: CNN Host Asks John Fetterman If He Would Become Republican, Accept Trump’s Endorsement)
For weeks, Democrats declined to back full-year funding for the DHS unless the Trump administration agrees to sweeping changes to immigration policy. On Feb. 4, party leaders released a 10-item proposal outlining those conditions, which Republicans quickly dismissed as unacceptable. The proposals include mandating court-issued warrants before detaining illegal migrants on private property, banning officers from wearing face coverings and halting mobile enforcement patrols.
A lapse in DHS funding would not only disrupt pay for personnel across the department but would also affect agencies beyond immigration enforcement, including Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). A DHS spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation that while essential operations would continue, many employees would still be required to work without pay, placing additional strain on frontline national security staff.
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