DHS funding impasse here to stay as administration ratchets up pressure

Senators want to see changes to ICE and Border Patrol practices as the partial government shutdown shows no signs of ending.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who has sharply criticized Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, voiced disappointment that the White House is not acknowledging that part of the conversation revolves around the crisis of confidence in President Donald Trump’s embattled DHS chief. | Tom Brenner/AP

The Trump administration is taking actions to increase the sense of urgency to fund the Department of Homeland Security. But lawmakers calling for reforms to the agency are feeling little urgency to cede ground, indicating the funding standoff could continue for weeks to come.

The most recent move came Friday, when DHS leadership disbursed billions of dollars in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund and warned that its coffers are running low. In the past week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also briefly halted the Transportation Security Agency’s PreCheck program and paused counterterrorism grants to help with security at this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have withheld support for the DHS funding bill said they see the moves as reflecting bad management on the part of the Trump administration, rather than upping urgency for a compromise from their side.

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