Negotiations on Capitol Hill appear to be at a standstill after both Republicans and Democrats have rejected each other’s offers to break the stalemate, fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, and put an end to the ongoing partial government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Thursday that Democrats are “now in possession of what I think is our last and final” offer, according to Fox News, after the Republican told reporters on Wednesday he did not intend on sending another offer.
“It’s not even close to being real. They know better. They’re asking for things that have already been turned down. So it just seems like they’re going in circles,” Thune told reporters on Wednesday regarding the Democrats most recent counteroffer.
He added that there are disagreements over funding for specific parts of ICE, like Enforcement and Removal Operations. In addition, there are continued disputes over the Democrats’ push for an end to masking of agents and their desire to use judicial warrants for most immigration arrests.
“I mean, warrants and masks have never been on the table, and they know that,” Thune said.
The White House also slammed the counteroffer from Democrats, although few details are publicly known about the current proposal.
“It’s laughable that Democrats are now demanding more reforms to an agency they still refuse to fund,” a White House official told The Daily Wire on background on Wednesday evening.
“The Administration has repeatedly tried to work in good faith with the Democrats while always remaining consistent: we want the Department funded and we will continue to enforce the law. This latest stunt from the Democrats proves they are not interested in a serious conversation and they don’t care [that] their shutdown is hurting Americans,” the official added.
As for Schumer, he told Punchbowl News on Thursday morning that “people are talking” regarding funding, as Democrats in Congress continue to want federal immigration policy reforms made.
“ICE needs to leave the airports NOW. Trump needs to pay TSA workers NOW, and push Republicans to reach a deal. No intimidation forces at our airports. No more chaos at checkpoints. Enough is enough,” Schumer posted on Tuesday in opposition to the president’s decision to send ICE agents to airports amid a high number of TSA officer callouts.
The Daily Wire reported earlier this week that White House Border Czar Tom Homan was part of bipartisan talks starting last week, and that judicial warrants and masking were expected to be concessions made by Democrats from the list of requests they made regarding immigration enforcement reforms.
President Donald Trump responded to the gridlock by rebooting his calls to end the Senate filibuster rule.
In multiple Truth Social posts on Thursday, the president said that scrapping the filibuster would be the best way to end the wait-time issues at airports and to pass the SAVE America Act, as it would get rid of the 60-vote threshold needed to procedurally move most legislation forward.
“When is ‘enough, enough’ for our Republican Senators,” he wrote, telling the lawmakers to “Go for the Gold!!!”
“There comes a time when you must do what should have been done a long time ago, and something which the Lunatic Democrats will do on day one, if they ever get the chance. TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, and get our airports, and everything else, moving again. Also, add the complete, all five items, SAVE AMERICA ACT items,” the president added.
In another post, he expressed his belief that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “will make a deal now because he thinks that if he doesn’t, Republicans will TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, something which they should do whether he makes a deal or not!!!”