Senate Republicans and Democrats remained at an impasse Wednesday over legislation to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, leaving it uncertain whether lawmakers can strike a deal before the chamber heads into a congressional recess beginning March 30, as spring break and Easter travel intensify pressure on both parties to end a shutdown that has stretched into its second month.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said there was "no point" in continuing talks on the latest Democrat counteroffer and confirmed Republicans would move ahead with another vote on their proposal later Wednesday.
"It's not even close to being real," Thune said, adding, "They know better. They're asking for things that have already been turned down. So it just seems like they're going in circles, spinning, spinning."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., defended the Democrat position as a genuine effort to break the deadlock, saying, "Our offer is a reasonable, good faith proposal that contains some of the very same asks Democrats have been talking about now for months."
He added, "We have now given Republicans our response, and it's a serious offer. And time is of the essence I'd say to my Republican colleagues. The Easter holiday is coming, families are going on spring break. TSA lines are literally stretching out the door of airports."
The fight centers on whether Congress should fund DHS broadly under a Republican-backed plan supported by President Donald Trump while continuing money for ICE enforcement and removal operations, or separate out TSA funding while negotiations continue over immigration enforcement limits and changes that Democrats say are necessary, including new guardrails on ICE practices.
The shutdown has reached its 40th day, and the strain is increasingly visible at airports, where TSA's acting administrator told lawmakers Wednesday that travelers are facing the agency's highest wait times, nationwide daily officer callout rates have climbed from 4% before the shutdown to 11% — with some airports seeing callout rates above 40% — and more than 480 TSA officers have quit during the funding lapse.
Nearly all TSA employees are considered essential and must continue screening passengers without pay during a shutdown, even as the agency handles roughly 3 million passengers on peak travel days.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the administration has ordered ICE officers into security lines and checkpoints at some of the nation's busiest airports as staffing shortages worsen.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said Republicans believe Democrats keep moving the goalpost.
"We literally offered what they asked for three days ago and then suddenly it's like, oh no, now we got new stuff. ... This has been the constant journey — one more thing, one more thing, one more thing."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.