Senate votes to fund DHS, but not ICE or Border Patrol

The U.S. Senate last night voted to fund the Department of Homeland Security, but not ICE or Border Patrol, the two agencies whose increasingly violent immigration enforcement led to a standoff in congress. The deal applies to the Transport Security Administration, so will get TSA agents paid and back to work in America's chaotic airports.

Democrats had refused to agree a funding deal without reforms to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, but the Senate reached unanimous agreement in the early hours of Friday after stripping ICE and parts of border protection out of the measure. … Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the package included funding for the TSA, US Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

He told the chamber that "in the wake of the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Senate democrats were clear: No blank cheque for a lawless ICE and border patrol".

Senate Democrats found the spine that was missing in earlier confrontations, but Republicans didn't agree to restrain those agencies either. It sounds like Trump's offer to pay the TSA yesterday undermined his own party.

Republicans had delivered Democrats a final offer: fund all of DHS, including ICE, except the division responsible for enforcement and removal operations. … by the evening, lawmakers were still struggling to reach an agreement to end the impasse, even as many viewed the worsening situation at the nation's airports as untenable. Then, President Trump announced he would unilaterally move to declare a national emergency and pay TSA agents. … Not long after Trump's TSA announcement Thursday night, Thune told reporters about an agreement to fund most of DHS except for ICE and Border Patrol.

Now it goes to the U.S. House of Representatives, where it might not be easy going. Some Democrats worry that the Republican-controlled Senate will be able to fund ICE though a reconciliation bill. But House Speaker Mike Johnson is upset about the deal, calling it "shameful."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Thursday that House Republicans have not been in favor of breaking up the funding, calling it "shameful" to fail to fund the agency. It is unclear how the House will respond to the agreement.