Senate Democrats voted for the fifth time on Friday to block a Department of Homeland Security funding bill from advancing as they continue to push for immigration enforcement policy changes.
Top appropriators from both parties and some centrist dealmakers are set to continue negotiations Friday evening with White House border czar Tom Homan in an effort to end the shutdown, which began on Feb. 14.
The group had its first formal sit-down on Thursday after weeks of trading paper offers.
Democrats left that meeting saying they were no closer to a deal with the White House, so it was no surprise that Friday’s vote again fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
Like the previous four roll call votes, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote to advance the DHS funding bill.
Other Democrats are still holding out for a potential agreement on policies to rein in the Trump administration’s deportation force.
They want immigration enforcement agents to stop wearing masks, avoid “sensitive locations,” such as schools, hospitals, courts and polling locations, and use judicial warrants for arrests on private property.
President Trump’s DHS Secretary nominee, Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin, said during his confirmation hearing this week that he would order ICE to curtail entry into homes and businesses without a judicial warrant. And the White House has made some concessions on limiting enforcement around sensitive locations.
“If there’s any serious interest on the Democrat side in actually getting a deal to fund DHS, I think the deal space is there,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, said, noting the list of outstanding issues is “much more confined.”
He said Mr. Homan’s involvement has been helpful.
“He’s working hard to find that landing spot,” Mr. Thune said.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democratic appropriator, said the talks with Mr. Homan have been “productive,” but the two parties “are still very far apart.”
She said Mr. Mullin’s commitment to judicial warrants “is a welcome surprise” but needs to be codified into law.
Ms. Murray said one of the unresolved issues is on use of force policies, as Democrats are pushing for ICE agents to be held to the same standards as local police.
Ms. Murray and Senate Democrats have tried on multiple occasions to pass legislation by unanimous consent to fund all of DHS except for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, but Republicans have rejected those attempts.
Republicans argue that Democrats’ piecemeal approach is a political ploy to defund law enforcement.
Democrats say Republicans are holding other agencies and federal workers hostage, such as the Transportation Security Administration. Airports have experienced increasing security lines as some TSA workers have stopped showing up to work because they are not being paid during the shutdown.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, has teed up a procedural vote for Saturday on a cumbersome mechanism to attempt to fund TSA on its own.
“Republicans are saying, ’Unless you pass ICE [funding] as is without reform, we’re not going to help the TSA workers get paid and reduce the lines at airports.’ We are saying, ’Just do it, no ands, ifs, or buts,’” Mr. Schumer said, noting negotiations on changes needed to rein in ICE “still have a way to go.”
Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming said Democrats are trying to peel apart the Department of Homeland Security funding bill to hide the fact that they caused the shutdown.
“If Democrats think they can avoid blame for this shutdown of American security, they are wrong,” he said.
