Kristi Noem's ouster as head of the Department of Homeland Security could clear a path to reopen the agency, according to Senate sources familiar with the negotiations who spoke with The Hill.
"There's a lot of talks happening," one Senate source told the news outlet. "The moderates could be the off-ramp again.
"If people saw the substance of the White House offer, it is a substantive offer. There's an ongoing meaningful exchange."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told The Hill that firing Noem as homeland security secretary is a "major step" that should move the negotiations closer to a deal.
Some Democrats still have reservations, however.
"The problems at ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] transcend any one individual. ... It goes beyond any one person," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters last week.
"You need to straighten out the whole agency. The rot there is deep."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., welcomed Noem's firing, calling her "a disgrace" but adding that "a change in personnel is not sufficient.
"We need a change in policy, and that has to be bold, dramatic, transformational, and meaningful," he said at a news conference last week.
DHS has been closed for more than three weeks.
Republicans invoked the war in Iran and the prospect of retaliatory terrorist attacks as they made another unsuccessful effort Thursday to pass a bill funding DHS.
Democrats are insisting on changes to immigration enforcement operations as part of the measure and blocked it from advancing. The procedural vote was 51-45, falling well short of the 60 that Republicans needed to proceed with the measure.
The House also took up the bill on Thursday, passing it 221-209, but in the end, a bipartisan compromise will have to be reached to end a DHS shutdown that began Feb. 14.
The funding bill first passed the House in January, but it has gone nowhere in the Senate as Democrats seek new restraints on enforcement tactics following the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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