CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty ImagesThe Senate passed a bill early Friday to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, except for ICE and Border Patrol. For weeks, Republicans had rejected similar offers from Democrats. But with travelers in major airports facing hours-long waits as Transportation Security Administration agents quit or called in sick, Republican senators abruptly reversed course. More than 480 TSA agents have quit since regular DHS funding ran out on Feb. 14. ICE had already received several years’ worth of funding under President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful” spending law, but Republicans wanted to add billions more in regular funding. They still plan to try to add that money through another budget process. Democrats have said any new funding must be tied to immigration enforcement reforms, including requiring ICE agents to follow the same standards as other law enforcement agents, such as displaying their names and obtaining judicial warrants to enter homes, as required by the Constitution. In reaching the partial funding deal, Senate Republicans bucked President Donald Trump’s demands that any DHS funding deal be tied to the SAVE America Act, which would introduce sweeping new voting restrictions. Read it at BloombergRead more at The Daily Beast.
March 27, 2026