Thune Blames Democrats’ 'Far-Left Base' as Senate Holds New DHS Funding Talks Amid 35-Day Shutdown
As the partial DHS funding lapse entered its 35th day, Senate negotiators held fresh talks — including a closed‑door meeting with White House border czar Tom Homan — even as TSA staffing shortages and storm‑driven travel disruptions have contributed to thousands of flight cancellations and warnings that rising sick calls could force airport closures. Senate Majority Leader John Thune blamed Senate Democrats’ “far‑left base” for blocking funding until ICE and Border Patrol reforms (including written warrant requirements and other oversight measures Democrats insist on) are codified, even as GOP negotiators tout concessions from nominee Markwayne Mullin and pressure grows to end the impasse before lawmakers’ recess.
📌 Key Facts
- DHS funding lapsed on Feb. 14; about a 35‑day partial shutdown has left roughly 260,000 DHS employees unpaid and produced broad operational strain across the department.
- Senators held a March 19 bipartisan meeting with White House border czar Tom Homan (including appropriators such as Susan Collins and Patty Murray) — billed as the first real in‑person dialogue in weeks — and Senate Majority Leader John Thune warned the impasse "needs to get resolved by the end of next week" and could force cancellation of the planned April recess.
- Senate Democrats are refusing to reopen full DHS funding until ICE/CBP reforms are codified in statute after the Minneapolis deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good; core Democratic demands include judicial warrants for ICE to force entry, bans on masks and roaming patrols, visible identifying information, mandatory body cameras, bans on operations at sensitive locations (schools, churches, polling places), and independent misconduct investigations — and they want any concessions written into law, not left to agency discretion.
- GOP negotiators and DHS nominee Markwayne Mullin have signaled concessions at hearings (Mullin pledged to require warrants in many situations and voiced support for FEMA and faster reimbursements), but several Senate Democrats said his testimony did not close the gap.
- Sen. John Thune publicly blamed Democrats' "far‑left base" for blocking DHS funding, accusing Democratic leaders of instructing members not to negotiate until White House offers were publicized and asserting Democrats may be politically benefiting from the shutdown; he is preparing another funding bill that Democrats are expected to block.
- The shutdown has severely affected TSA and air travel: hundreds of TSA officers have resigned (reports range ~300–366), many remaining staff are working without pay (reported ~50,000), national callout rates topped ~10% (10.19%), and some major hubs reported callout rates of roughly 30–55%, producing closed checkpoints, multi‑hour waits and official warnings (Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl) that sustained callouts could force airport or checkpoint closures.
- Widespread severe weather at the same time — blizzards and high winds across the Midwest and Great Lakes, a high‑wind/tornado threat in the Mid‑Atlantic, an unusually early West heat wave and catastrophic flooding in Hawaii — produced thousands of flight cancellations and delays (reports of 4,800+ cancellations one day and other multi‑thousand disruption totals), compounding travel chaos already worsened by TSA staffing shortfalls.
- Legislative maneuvers continue but remain deadlocked: House Republicans plan hearings on DHS risks and pursue other measures, House Democrats have signaled a discharge petition to fund most DHS subagencies excluding immigration enforcement, and both sides have repeatedly blocked rival efforts to reopen DHS funding while negotiations continue.
📊 Relevant Data
32 people died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in 2025, marking the deadliest year for ICE custody in more than two decades.
2025 was ICE's deadliest year in two decades. Here are the 32 ... — The Guardian
Black Americans comprise approximately one-fifth (about 18-19%) of the federal workforce, despite representing 13% of the U.S. population, leading to disproportionate economic impacts from government shutdowns on this group.
Partial Government Shutdown Looms as Battle Over DHS Funding ... — Capital B News
At least two dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020, including cases of physical abuse and other misconduct.
Takeaways from AP's review of criminal charges against ICE ... — Associated Press
📰 Source Timeline (24)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
March 20, 2026
3:00 PM
Thune reveals reason Democrats are 'scared' to reopen DHS
New information:
- John Thune tells Fox News Digital he believes Senate Democrats are "so afraid of their far-left base" whose "demand right now is defund ICE, defund law enforcement," and says that is why they are blocking DHS funding.
- Thune asserts that Democratic leaders have effectively instructed their members not to negotiate with Republicans on DHS until the White House publicized its offers, describing them as "paternalistic Democrat fathers" issuing an edict.
- He says Democrats are "running scared" and suggests they believe they "benefit politically" from keeping DHS shut down, even as he prepares yet another funding bill for a Friday vote that Democrats are expected to block.
- The article confirms Democrats have already blocked four attempts to reopen DHS over demands for stringent ICE reforms, and notes that several Democrats left the latest meeting with border czar Tom Homan and GOP senators without commenting.
1:58 PM
WATCH LIVE: Senate meets to consider DHS funding to end shutdown
New information:
- PBS/AP piece confirms the March 19 closed-door meeting involved 'a bipartisan group of senators' and White House border czar Tom Homan and that it was held on Thursday, March 19, with the Senate convening publicly at noon March 20.
- It specifies that funding for DHS lapsed on Feb. 14 and ties Democratic refusal to fund ICE and CBP to the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warns on X that current airport lines are 'child's play' compared to what will happen if TSA misses another paycheck, explicitly linking worsening TSA sick-outs to the unresolved shutdown.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune calls Homan’s direct involvement 'a pretty big deal' and says he cannot see the Senate taking its planned April recess if the shutdown is still ongoing.
- Sen. Susan Collins says Democratic demands are 'growing and growing,' while Sen. Patty Murray says that even with the White House at the table, the two sides remain 'a long ways apart.'
- The article lists Democrats’ core policy demands: judicial warrants for ICE to force entry into homes, visible identifying information on uniforms and removal of masks, mandatory body cameras, bans on operations at sensitive locations such as schools, churches and polling places, and independent investigations into misconduct.
March 19, 2026
8:22 PM
Lawmakers finally start negotiating an end to the DHS shutdown
New information:
- Confirms an approximately 75‑minute in‑person Capitol meeting on March 19 between border czar Tom Homan, Senate Democrats including Patty Murray, and Republican senators, described as the first significant in‑person DHS shutdown negotiation in weeks.
- Details Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s specific confirmation‑hearing pledge to require ICE agents to obtain judicial warrants to enter homes and businesses except in certain pursuit scenarios, and shows GOP negotiators touting it as a 'good‑faith' concession.
- Reports that Senate Democrats, led by Murray, are insisting Mullin’s warrant promise be put in writing as part of a firm GOP–White House offer, not just verbal assurances.
- Adds that Senate Majority Leader John Thune publicly warned he may cancel the upcoming Senate recess if the DHS shutdown is not resolved, saying it 'needs to get resolved…by the end of next week.'
- Quotes Sen. Katie Britt characterizing Mullin’s promise as proof he is the 'right choice' for DHS secretary and saying 'dialogue is certainly progress' after 48 days since passing the CR.
7:55 PM
Senators meet with border czar as lawmakers search for way out of DHS shutdown
New information:
- A group of senators, including top appropriators Susan Collins and Patty Murray, met Thursday with White House border czar Tom Homan for what participants called the first real dialogue in about six weeks on ending the DHS shutdown and reforming ICE.
- Republican Sen. Katie Britt emphasized the meeting was a 'conversation' rather than a negotiation and warned there was 'no guarantee of anything,' while Sen. John Hoeven said 'we made some progress' and Sen. Patty Murray countered that the sides remain a 'long ways apart.'
- Senate Minority Leader John Thune said the DHS funding impasse 'needs to get resolved by the end of next week' and that he 'can’t see' the Senate leaving for a two‑week recess if the shutdown continues.
- The article stresses that hundreds of TSA officers have quit as they work without pay and that airport screening has become chaotic, and notes Democrats’ efforts to fund individual DHS components and Republicans’ attempts at temporary full‑DHS funding have each been blocked by the other side.
- The piece situates the talks in the context of looming DHS leadership transition from Kristi Noem to expected incoming Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and notes Homan was sent in to oversee Minnesota operations after January killings by federal officers intensified scrutiny of DHS enforcement.
7:13 PM
Pence: Democrats’ DHS funding fight ‘unconscionable’ as US faces threats ‘at home and abroad’
New information:
- Former Vice President Mike Pence, in an interview with Fox News Digital, labeled Democrats’ refusal to fund DHS during ongoing operations against Iran as 'unconscionable.'
- Pence explicitly framed the situation as the U.S. taking the fight to 'the leading state sponsor of terrorism' and said it has 'never been more important' to ensure DHS has resources 'today.'
- He pointed to 'enemies within' the United States, citing recent twin terror‑style incidents — the Michigan synagogue attack and the fatal shooting of an ROTC instructor at Old Dominion University — as reasons DHS must be funded.
5:30 PM
Schumer keeps public guessing on how long Dems will refuse to fund DHS amid terror attacks
New information:
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to say how long Democrats will hold out on DHS funding when questioned by Fox News, instead telling reporters to "ask the Republicans."
- The article details Democrats’ specific conditions for backing DHS funding: a ban on masks for ICE agents, stricter warrant requirements for apprehending suspects in public, and a ban on roaming patrols.
- The piece directly links the ongoing DHS funding lapse, now past the one‑month mark since Feb. 14, to four recent suspected domestic terror attacks (Michigan synagogue vehicle ramming, Virginia university shooting, New York explosives, and a Texas shooting) and quotes GOP leaders blaming Democrats for keeping the department unfunded.
12:07 PM
EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans to hold hearing on DHS shutdown risks amid travel surge
New information:
- House Homeland Security Committee, chaired by Rep. Andrew Garbarino, will hold a hearing next Wednesday specifically on security risks and employee financial hardship caused by the DHS shutdown.
- Senior officials from TSA, FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard and CISA are expected to testify on how the funding lapse is affecting their operations and personnel.
- The article cites internal figures that more than 360 TSA employees have resigned during the 34‑day partial shutdown and that roughly 10% of TSA agents did not report to work on Sunday.
- Roughly 170 million passengers are expected to travel through U.S. airports during the spring travel season, heightening concern over TSA staffing and delays.
- House Democrats plan to file a discharge petition to force a vote on legislation that would fund all DHS sub‑agencies except those handling immigration enforcement.
8:24 AM
Mullin presents a different vision for FEMA, sparking cautious hope
New information:
- At his March 19 confirmation hearing, Markwayne Mullin explicitly rejected eliminating FEMA, calling it an agency with a 'great mission' and saying FEMA staff 'want to do their job.'
- Mullin pledged to revoke outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s directive requiring her personal approval for FEMA expenditures over $100,000, describing himself as 'not a micromanager.'
- He promised to pursue reforms to speed FEMA reimbursements to states and localities, with a focus on better serving rural communities, and said he is already looking at candidates for a permanent FEMA administrator.
- Former FEMA Administrators Deanne Criswell and Pete Gaynor publicly welcomed Mullin’s remarks as a potentially 'meaningful first step' away from the upheaval and staff reductions FEMA saw under Noem.
- The article underscores that Trump’s FEMA Review Council report on overhauling the agency is months overdue, prolonging uncertainty about the future scope of federal disaster support.
12:01 AM
Mullin testimony doesn't "close the gap" on DHS shutdown
New information:
- At his March 18 confirmation hearing to lead DHS, Sen. Markwayne Mullin signaled openness to requiring judicial warrants before federal immigration agents enter private homes or businesses.
- Key Senate Democrats, including Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Brian Schatz, Chris Coons and Chris Van Hollen, told Axios Mullin’s testimony did not move them toward ending the DHS shutdown.
- Democrats emphasized they want ICE and Border Patrol reforms codified in statute rather than left to agency or presidential discretion, explicitly citing concern that Trump or Stephen Miller could undo any policy‑level concessions.
March 18, 2026
9:18 PM
‘How do you sleep at night?' Moreno slams ‘disgraceful’ shutdown leaving 260,000 workers without pay
New information:
- Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) used the March 18 Mullin DHS confirmation hearing to hammer both parties for the shutdown, stressing that about 260,000 DHS employees have gone more than a month without pay.
- Moreno directly accused Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs ranking member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) of breaking a promise to keep key agencies funded and called Peters' inattention during the hearing "incredibly disrespectful."
- Moreno highlighted that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that processed his own naturalization, is among the unfunded components, saying roughly 3,300 USCIS employees processing legal immigrants are not being paid, and challenged Democrats to explicitly say they do not want to fund ICE’s 7,000 special agents who target transnational criminal organizations.
12:21 PM
Official warns some airports could shut down if TSA sick calls climb
New information:
- Acting deputy TSA administrator Adam Stahl explicitly warned that if TSA officer sick‑call rates continue to rise, 'there could be scenarios where we may have to shut down airports,' calling the situation 'serious.'
- Stahl said 'hundreds' of TSA officers have already quit and that about 50,000 remaining officers are working without pay, with some sleeping in their cars and donating blood to afford gas to reach work.
- The article reports that Monday’s national TSA sick‑out rate exceeded 10% — five times normal — with roughly 37% of screeners calling out at Atlanta’s Hartsfield‑Jackson, closing one checkpoint and pushing waits over two hours; waits reached at least 103 minutes at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental, and three of six TSA checkpoints at Philadelphia International were scheduled to be closed Wednesday.
- TSA leadership now acknowledges that while large‑hub closures are not yet imminent, shutting down smaller airports is a plausible scenario if funding and staffing continue to deteriorate.
12:18 PM
TSA official says rising sick calls could lead to airports shutting down
New information:
- CBS clip provides on‑camera confirmation from acting deputy TSA administrator Adam Stahl that 'estimated wait times at some of the country's major airports are up to two hours' due to rising sick calls.
- Stahl states explicitly that 'there could be scenarios where we may have to shut down airports,' framing closures as a concrete contingency rather than a purely hypothetical risk.
- He characterizes the situation as 'serious,' underscoring TSA leadership’s level of concern about continued sick‑out trends during the partial government shutdown.
8:00 AM
Flight passengers are warned things could get worse amid DHS shutdown, delays and callouts
New information:
- TSA’s national callout rate hit 10.19% on Sunday, which a TSA spokesperson described as the highest the agency has seen.
- Houston Hobby International Airport reached a 55% TSA callout rate on Friday, with New Orleans and Atlanta topping 30% over the weekend.
- A total of 366 TSA officers have quit during the DHS shutdown so far, and it takes 4–6 months to train and certify replacements, creating a structural staffing gap.
- The United Kingdom updated its official foreign travel advice to warn of 'longer than usual queues at some U.S. airports due to a partial US government shutdown.'
- Hartsfield‑Jackson Atlanta International Airport publicly warned that domestic travelers are trying to bypass domestic terminal lines by using the international terminal, which is worsening congestion there.
March 17, 2026
5:26 PM
Flight cancellations pile up after storms dump snow in the Midwest and head east
New information:
- On Tuesday, more than 1,000 U.S. flights were canceled and about 4,200 delayed, with the worst disruptions at Atlanta’s Hartsfield‑Jackson (200+ cancellations, ~450 delays).
- On Monday, more than 4,800 flights were canceled and delays topped 12,800 nationwide, including roughly 600 cancellations at Chicago O’Hare, 500+ at Atlanta, and about 450 at New York’s LaGuardia.
- The article explicitly links the storm‑driven disruption to an ongoing partial DHS shutdown that began Feb. 14, noting more than 300 TSA agents have quit and some workers are taking second jobs or can’t afford gas to get to work.
- TSA union leaders in Atlanta held a news conference warning travelers should expect increasingly long security lines as the shutdown continues, while passengers describe sleeping on airport floors and arriving four hours early due to TSA delays.
1:53 PM
More flights canceled or delayed as weather, TSA staffing upend travel
New information:
- The article explicitly ties ongoing nationwide flight delays to a partial DHS shutdown that began February 14 and has left TSA employees working without pay.
- More than 300 TSA staffers have quit since the shutdown began, and TSA call-out rates have more than doubled, with last weekend marking the highest and second-highest call-out days to date.
- The shutdown affects only the Department of Homeland Security, and Democrats are refusing to fund DHS until new restrictions are imposed on federal immigration operations following the fatal Minneapolis shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
- TSA union leaders in Atlanta publicly warned Monday that travelers should expect increasingly long security lines as the shutdown continues, even as many officers still report for duty under growing financial strain.
10:00 AM
Blizzards, severe storms, heat wave hit U.S. with array of extreme weather
New information:
- AccuWeather estimates that more than 200 million people were under threat Monday from some type of dangerous weather, from heat and wildfire advisories to flood and freeze watches.
- Phoenix is expected to see five straight days of triple‑digit temperatures this week, an unprecedented March heat wave with only one prior 100‑degree March day on record (1988).
- L.A. Mayor Karen Bass publicly linked the early‑season Southern California heat to climate change, saying “This is technically still winter… a sign of how climate change is impacting our city,” as Bay Area and Sacramento temperatures approach 90°F.
- Nebraska officials say three large fires have burned more than 1,140 square miles of mostly grassland, with Gov. Jim Pillen calling the situation a 'doozy' from Mother Nature.
- Poweroutage.com data cited show more than 500,000 homes and businesses without power early Tuesday, mainly in Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts.
- Four people, including a child, died Monday in a New York City apartment fire that spread rapidly in heavy winds associated with the storm system.
March 16, 2026
10:45 PM
News Wrap: Chaotic weather system delays U.S. travelers
New information:
- Article explicitly ties the severe-weather system to delays for 'tens of thousands of travelers nationwide,' emphasizing air-travel disruption as a primary impact.
- Confirms Maui received more than 23 inches of rain, characterized as 'almost two feet of water' on Saturday, consistent with but reinforcing earlier figures.
- Provides an on-the-ground detail that TSA agents missing paychecks during the partial DHS shutdown are already calling out from work, compounding airport disruption from the storm.
1:31 PM
Severe storms blast eastern half of the U.S. with snow and high winds, as tornado threat rises
New information:
- Confirms more than 2,000 flight cancellations nationwide tied to the storm as of Monday.
- Details that mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C., are at greatest risk for high winds and tornadoes, with a stretch from parts of South Carolina to Maryland highlighted for the most damaging winds Monday afternoon.
- Specifies that by Tuesday morning, wind chills below freezing are expected to reach the Gulf Coast and Florida Panhandle, with freeze warnings in parts of the Southeast as well as Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas.
- Notes additional snowfall totals in Upper Michigan of up to another foot to 20 inches, with blizzard conditions persisting in parts of Wisconsin and Michigan and up to 2 feet already on the ground in some areas.
- Reports widespread school closures in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan, and early dismissals in Maryland due to the line of storms and high-wind/tornado threat.
- Quotes North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein urging residents to enable emergency alerts ahead of forecast gusts up to 74 mph.
7:44 AM
Severe storms pummel parts of US with snow and high winds and raise tornado threat
New information:
- National Weather Service now highlights a corridor from parts of South Carolina to Maryland as most likely to experience the greatest damaging winds and several tornadoes on Monday afternoon, including Raleigh, Richmond, and Washington, D.C.
- Officials in North Carolina have ordered schools in Raleigh and Chapel Hill closed Monday because of the tornado and high‑wind threat; Gov. Josh Stein urged residents to enable emergency alerts ahead of potential 74‑mph gusts.
- AccuWeather’s Tyler Roys specifies that central Wisconsin to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is likely to see over 2 feet of snow, with lower but still disruptive accumulations in Chicago and Milwaukee impacting Monday commutes.
- The article reinforces that Hawaii continues to see flooding from a separate system, with some Maui locations receiving more than 20 inches of rain and extended road closures and shelter operations.
3:12 AM
Snow and wind batter parts of US, with threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes starting later Sunday
New information:
- AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys describes the event as a "broad and erratic patchwork" of severe weather and warns that successive punches of snow, wind and severe weather will impact the eastern half of the U.S.
- Forecast detail that mid‑Atlantic states and Washington, D.C., are at greatest risk for high winds and tornadoes on Monday as the system moves east.
- Report that more than 850 flights were canceled Sunday at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports, on top of more than 600 cancellations at Minneapolis–Saint Paul and additional cancellations through Detroit.
- Updated Hawaii impact numbers: nearly 40,000 electric customers without power and some areas of Maui receiving more than 20 inches of rain, with local officials reporting flooding, landslides, sinkholes and widespread infrastructure damage.
March 15, 2026
8:26 PM
Severe weather batter parts of U.S., with threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes starting later Sunday
New information:
- Confirms more than a foot of snow in portions of Minnesota and Wisconsin as of Sunday morning, with additional accumulations expected in the Minneapolis area under active blizzard warnings.
- Reports that more than 600 flights into and out of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport were canceled Sunday, with additional cancellations through Detroit.
- Details severe flooding in Hawaii: over 50,000 customers without power statewide, acres of farmland and homes flooded, road closures and opened shelters, and Maui County’s mayor reporting up to 20 inches of rain in 24 hours in parts of Maui, along with landslides, rescues and collapsed homes.
- Quotes AccuWeather meteorologist Tyler Roys warning that successive punches of snow, wind and severe weather will impact the eastern half of the U.S. and several major airports.
- Notes that portions of the mid‑South are bracing for late‑day thunderstorms Sunday that are expected to spread east and bring high‑wind and tornado threats to a broad swath of the Eastern U.S., with the Mid‑Atlantic including Washington, D.C., most at risk Monday.
7:26 PM
Weather threats bring blizzard conditions, early heat wave to parts of U.S.
New information:
- Quantifies current alert scope: about 11.5 million people under blizzard warnings, 4.3 million under winter storm warnings, and 20.6 million under an extreme heat watch.
- Confirms more than a foot of snow already fell in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin on Sunday, with additional accumulation expected in Minneapolis under ongoing blizzard warnings.
- Reports a formal no‑travel advisory in southern Minnesota and that Gov. Tim Walz authorized the Minnesota National Guard to support emergency operations.
- Details that more than 600 flights into and out of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport were canceled Sunday, with additional cancellations in Detroit.
- Specifies Monday’s forecast moderate risk of severe weather and damaging winds from parts of South Carolina to Maryland, including Raleigh, Richmond and Washington, D.C., plus a broader, lower risk stretching north into part of New York and south into northern Florida.
- Introduces a simultaneous, unusually early heat wave in the West, with potential record highs in Southern California, the Desert Southwest and Great Basin, including 90s–100s in desert areas and 70s–80s across much of California and the interior West, along with elevated wildfire danger.
5:41 PM
Snow and wind batter parts of US, with threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes
New information:
- Confirms that a broad, erratic storm system is simultaneously producing heavy snow and blizzard conditions in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan while the same pattern drives the Nebraska wildfires previously reported.
- Reports more than 600 flight cancellations into and out of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport on Sunday and additional cancellations through Detroit because of the storm.
- Provides updated scope on the Nebraska wildfires: three of the largest fires have damaged well over 900 square miles, with the Morrill County fire alone burning well over 700 square miles, and about 30 Nebraska National Guard members deployed to assist.
- Notes that roughly 150,000 utility customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan remain without power Sunday after earlier non-thunderstorm wind gusts up to 85 mph, linking the current storm pattern to lingering outages.
- Adds that forecasters expect late-day severe thunderstorms Sunday to spread east and by Monday threaten a large swath of the Eastern U.S., with the mid-Atlantic including Washington, D.C., at particular risk for high winds and possible tornadoes.