The Senate failed to advance a measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, paving the way for another partial government shutdown without a last-minute breakthrough. In a 52 to 47 vote, all but one Democrat opposed moving forward with the bill, which would fund DHS through September. The motion needed 60 votes to succeed. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) voted against the motion in a procedural move that allows him to bring it up again. Funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, is set to lapse at 12 A.M. Saturday. ICE and CBP would continue operating during a shutdown, since they received billions of dollars in separate funding last year. Ahead of the vote Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-New York), said his caucus would vote against moving forward because the bill “fails to make any progress on reining in ICE and stopping the violence.” Senate GOP leaders are now expected to bring up a vote on a continuing resolution to fund DHS at current levels for several weeks which is expected to fail and Senators are leaving town after Thursday and are set to be away from Washington on recess next week. Leader Thune said he doesn’t see the benefit of keeping senators around as talks continue. “If and when there’s a breakthrough, we’ll make sure people are here to vote on it,” and that senators would be expected to return within 24 hours or as soon as possible if a deal is reached. Along with funding for the immigration enforcement agencies, DHS also oversees the Coast Guard, FEMA and TSA, all of which would be impacted by a lapse in funding. ICE and CBP operations would continue because they received an influx of funds in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
After passing HR 2189– Law-Enforcement Innovate to De-Escalate Act, 233-185 the House has adjourned until Monday, February 23rd.
The Senate will next convene on Monday, February 23rd.
