Democrats Demand ICE Reforms in DHS Funding Talks

Updated on: March 24, 2026 / 7:33 PM EDT / CBS News. Washington — Senate Democrats said Tuesday they will continue to insist on reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of any agreement to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, complicating Republican efforts to break the impasse over funding. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats will not fund ICE unless meaningful changes are included, citing the need to “rein in ICE” after two deadly shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis this January. Senate Republicans delivered a formal offer Tuesday following a late Monday meeting with President Trump, a package GOP senators described as promising. Sen. Katie Britt said the group “does” have a solution, but Democrats rejected the proposal after a caucus meeting, saying it fails to include ICE reforms they require. Senate Majority Leader John Thune described the GOP offer as funding roughly 94% of DHS while withholding $5.5 billion intended for ICE’s deportation arm, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Thune questioned how lawmakers could demand statutory reforms while simultaneously cutting the agency’s funding. Top appropriator Sen. Patty Murray said Democrats are pushing for modest changes that must be enacted into law, and she criticized the president for making public demands and shifting positions on social media even as White House talks continued. President Trump on Monday urged Republicans not to strike a deal unless DHS funding is tied to the SAVE America Act, his elections bill that would require proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to vote — a measure Democrats oppose. Republican leaders propose fully funding many DHS components, including TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard, while withholding ICE deportation funds and later attempting to approve those funds and parts of the SAVE Act through the budget reconciliation process. Reconciliation would allow passage by simple majority but is limited to provisions with direct budgetary effect; some GOP senators have expressed doubts that the SAVE Act fits that test. Utah Sen. Mike Lee tweeted that using reconciliation for the elections bill is “essentially impossible,” and Sen. Lindsey Graham acknowledged intraparty opposition but urged an end to the stalemate, pointing to long airport security lines caused by TSA staffing shortages. The standoff leaves negotiations in flux as both sides weigh whether funding can be separated from statutory reforms and whether reconciliation can be used to advance politically contentious provisions. Seiji Yamashita and Alan He contributed to this report.