Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate Leader John Thune announced an agreement had been reached to end the DHS shutdown with a plan to fund the government agencies through a two-step process.
The first step will be returning to the original Senate plan to fund DHS with the exception of ICE and US Border Patrol.
Republicans will then try to pass legislation through party-line bills.
Neither outcome is guaranteed.
Mike Johnson folded his cards.
The plan represents a do-over of what senators had in mind when they passed a bipartisan funding agreement through unanimous consent last Friday. The Senate could approve that same legislation again as soon as Thursday morning, but even if that happens, it’s unclear how quickly the bill could move through the House. It will likely take several months for Republicans to act on the second part of Trump’s plan and pass budgeting legislation to fund ICE and Border Patrol.
Democratic leadership took a victory lap.
Chuck Schumer said, “Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered. We were clear from the start: fund critical security, protect Americans, and no blank check for reckless ICE and Border Patrol enforcement. We were united, held the line, and refused to let Republican chaos win.”
There is likely to still be some squawking.