Senate Democrats Block D.H.S. Funding Again Over Enforcement Guardrails
The New York Times • • nation
Key Points:
- Senate Democrats blocked a spending bill for the third time to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, insisting on new restrictions on immigration enforcement before approval.
- Republicans argued that ongoing tensions in the Middle East, including President Trump’s war in Iran, made it critical to fund security agencies like TSA and the Secret Service without additional immigration enforcement limits.
- The department has been unfunded for 20 days, leading to furloughs of cybersecurity and infrastructure security personnel and canceled vulnerability checks, raising concerns about national security.
- Democrats proposed funding the department excluding ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the office of former department leader Kristi Noem, but Republicans rejected this offer, preventing unanimous passage.
- Key Democrat Senator Patty Murray emphasized the need
