House Republicans reject Senate plan to end DHS shutdown

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics House Republicans reject Senate plan to end DHS shutdown A Senate bill to end the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security is facing stiff resistance in the House, leaving funding for the agency in doubt. Politics House Republicans reject Senate plan to end DHS shutdown March 27, 20264:43 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Barbara Sprunt DHS latest in the House Listen &middot; 3:28 3:28 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5763748/nx-s1-9706431" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript A Senate bill to end the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security is facing stiff resistance in the House, leaving funding for the agency in doubt. Sponsor Message SCOTT DETROW, HOST: Lawmakers in the House began their day today with a potential path to ending the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security. It came in the form of a bill passed by the Senate early this morning, but the plan has already drawn stiff resistance in the House. Here is Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.

+ (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) MIKE JOHNSON: This gambit that was done last night is a joke. DETROW: NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt has been following all of this and joins us now, hey, Barbara. BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Hi, Scott. DETROW: Let's start with the bill that passed the Senate. What can you tell us about the measure? SPRUNT: Well, around 2 a.m., the Senate agreed to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security through September. This would, in theory, end the 42-day shutdown, which, as a reminder, happened because Democrats refused to fund DHS without major changes to its immigration enforcement tactics. That's after federal officers killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota. So this deal would fund basically everything except immigration enforcement. So money for TSA, money for FEMA, no money for ICE, no money for border patrol. DETROW: So, clears the Senate, goes to the House. What happens next? SPRUNT: Well, if people saw the Senate news and thought this thing would be over soon, I am sorry to burst that particular bubble. House Speaker Mike Johnson quickly rejected the Senate deal. He said Democrats have taken the funding process of government hostage, although this was a Republican offer last night. He said the House will vote instead on a bill to fund the entire DHS until May 22. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) JOHNSON: We're going to send that over to the Senate, and we hope that they'll accept that. They can do it in record time just like that with the unanimous consent. They can do that as early as Monday. SPRUNT: I think that's a little optimistic on his end. First, it has to pass the House. They're going to try to tee up a vote for that later this evening. If it does pass, then, of course, it has to pass the Senate, and senators have already left for a two-week recess. But the calendar aside, there is a political reality here, as well, for Senate Democrats. You know, they refuse to vote for anything that funds ICE. That was their whole premise to begin with with the shutdown. So I think it's very unlikely that they would suddenly change course. DETROW: Right. That was the goal, like you said, but the extractions for reforms, that hasn't happened yet, right? SPRUNT: Right. I mean, they're not voting for immigration enforcement, which they said they wouldn't do. But this doesn't have a lot of the reforms that they have been demanding. Top Senate Democrats say they're going to keep pushing for those reforms, but it seems hard to imagine that some of them, like, banning officers from wearing face coverings, for example, are going to happen anytime soon now. And just as a reminder, you know, we talk about the shutdown, and we usually think that means no funds at all, but ICE, this whole time, has been funded through a separate stream. Congress gave the agency $75 billion last summer, and they've been using that during the shutdown. DETROW: We know that congressional leaders on the Republican side often change their tune very quickly when President Trump weighs in. Where is President Trump in all of this? SPRUNT: That's right. Well, Speaker Johnson said he spoke with the president today about the House's plan. He says that the president is on board. President Trump also signed a memo earlier today to pay TSA officers. That memo itself was kind of vague about how that money would come to be. Of course, TSA officers have missed several paychecks during the shutdown. Travelers have faced very long lines and missed flights because of a TSA officer shortage. So getting those funds for the officers does resolve a major pain point of the shutdown, but the rest of the department's future is still unclear. DETROW: NPR's Barbara Sprunt. Always good to talk to you. Thanks so much. SPRUNT: You as well, Scott. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. 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