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By Jasmine Laws
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President Donald Trump blocked a plan that would have paid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents and ended the ongoing partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to a Republican senator.
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy said Monday on Fox News that the president said there would be "no deals with the Democrats," rejecting a plan that would have ended the partial shutdown of DHS and given TSA workers their paychecks "by the end of the week."
The plan, put together by Kennedy and Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, would have accepted Democratic lawmakers' proposals on funding DHS, excluding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Kennedy said.
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Kennedy added that this would have been followed by a reconciliation bill to fund ICE, which would have meant Republican lawmakers "don't need any Democratic votes to do whatever we wanted to do with ICE."
Newsweek has contacted Kennedy's press office, Cruz's press office and the White House via email outside regular working hours for comment.
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Why It Matters
Congress has been struggling to resolve the standoff around funding the DHS, after the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renée Good, by federal agents in January during a large-scale federal operation in Minneapolis.
The standoff meant that on February 14, funding for the department lapsed, prompting its partial shutdown, causing ripple effects across the country. As the department oversees the TSA, the agency's officers—who are designated as essential workers—are currently working without pay as a result of the shutdown, meaning airport screening operations are left increasingly strained as more officers quit or call in sick, causing nationwide airport mayhem.
The tension between lawmakers has not shown major signs of resolve, as a Senate vote on legislation to fund the DHS failed to advance on Friday, following a series of unsuccessful proposals.
What To Know
Kennedy also explained the plan in an interview with Dasha Burns, the host of C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire” show, last week, saying: "Let’s open up everything but ICE, OK?"
He then said what would happen next is that Republicans "are going to put a reconciliation bill on the floor that requires Republican votes to fund ICE, and the Democrats don’t have the vote to stop us."
He added: "Now, that to me is a resolution to this. I don’t think my Democratic friends are going to like it, but that’s what’s going to happen if we do it that way.”
A reconciliation bill would give Republicans more power over the decision-making process, enabling them to override the Senate’s 60-vote majority requirement, instead requiring a simple majority of 51 votes to pass the bill.
Late Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social: "I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass “THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.”
"It is far more important than anything else we are doing in the Senate, and that includes giving these same terrible people, the Dems [who are to blame for this mess!], a Five Billion Dollar cut in ICE funding, a deal which, even when disguised as something else, is unacceptable to me and the American people."
The SAVE America Act would reshape federal election rules by requiring proof of citizenship and photo identification to vote in elections. The bill has passed the House, though it has drawn criticism from Democrats, who say it would restrict Americans’ access to voting.
What People Are Saying
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, on X on Thursday: "As we have all week, Democrats will continue to hold the floor to block the Republican voter suppression SAVE Act. And as I’ve said all week: We will not let this bill pass under any circumstances, no matter how long it takes."
President Donald Trump, on Truth Social: "The Radical Left Democrats have hurt so many people with their vicious and uncaring ways. What they have done to the Department of Homeland Security, our fantastic TSA Officers, and, most importantly, the great people of our Country, is an absolute disgrace. If the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country, ICE will do the job far better than ever done before! The Fascist Democrats will never protect America, but the Republicans will. Just like the Radical Left allowed millions of Criminals to pour into our Country through their ridiculous and dangerous Open Border Policy, the Republicans closed it all down, and we now have the Strongest Border in American History. Likewise, I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, “GET READY.” NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!"
The X account Republicans against Trump, which has more than 1 million followers, on Monday: "Trump rejected Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s proposal to fund DHS without ICE, saying he wants Republicans to fight Democrats over DHS funding and the SAVE Act. Trump now officially owns the chaos at airports nationwide."
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