This is the current situation due to the closure of agencies such as the TSA, Coast Guard, Secret Service, and ICE.
Columbia University claims ICE lied to arrest international students
Columbia University officials said they suspect DHS officials made false statements to get into the dormitories where foreign students were detained.
WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security has been closed for more than two weeks, putting airport security, disaster relief, coastline security and even the paychecks of Secret Service agents who protected the president during the State of the Union address at risk.
The Trump administration sent an updated proposal to reopen government agencies to Senate Democrats on Feb. 27, but negotiations between the White House and Capitol Hill have been taking place largely behind closed doors.
There is still no end in sight to the funding impasse. Lawmakers from both parties have been at odds in recent days, at least in public. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters on February 25 that the Trump administration has not yet begun serious negotiations on federal immigration enforcement reform demands.
Hours later, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) fired back at Murray, pointing to paper deals between administration officials and Senate Democrats.
“I think the White House has tried, in good faith, to come to the table and work out some of the differences with Democrats,” he said, “but in a way that doesn’t jeopardize or undermine the ability of law enforcement officers to do their jobs and do their jobs in a way that keeps them safe.”
It was the third time in President Donald Trump’s second term that funding for a 9/11-era Cabinet agency has expired, showing just how wide the gap between the two sides remains in the government shutdown standoff.
Lawmakers and administration officials say thousands of employees are working without pay as some critical functions, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard, are scaled back until the shutdown ends. (Immigration operations continue as usual.)
Despite these high stakes, the president made modest mention of the funding lapse in his State of the Union address on February 24th. The president’s lack of attention to the issue underscores how common government shutdowns have become in Washington, especially during the second Trump era.
The longer the situation lasts, the worse it gets. Transportation Security Administration employee union leaders are already anticipating longer wait times for airline passengers after TSA employees received a portion of their regular paychecks on Friday, February 27th.
But lawmakers still don’t feel like they’re under any significant pressure from voters to force a deal. And the further the timeline moves away from the shooting deaths of two Minnesotans in January, the more influence Republicans may feel. Washington’s focus has already begun to shift significantly away from the politics of immigration enforcement and toward rising tensions with Iran and Cuba.
what the democrats want
A few weeks ago, Democrats made 10 major demands to the White House.
After Alex Preti’s murder, Democrats called for a ban on employees wearing masks, stricter standards for the use of force, and mandatory body cameras. They also want more restrictions on the types of warrants that allow federal agents to use force to arrest people or enter homes. And they want to reestablish longstanding precedent that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not target so-called “sensitive locations” such as schools, hospitals, and churches.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on February 25: “All they have to do is agree to our simple idea that almost every police department across America will comply.” “That’s plain and simple.”
An incident in Schumer’s own state the day after he made those comments could derail negotiations with the White House. Administrators at Columbia University in New York City say five federal agents lied about their identities to enter a dormitory, pretending they were police searching for a missing child. They then detained a senior named Ellie Agayeva without a warrant, citing concerns about her student visa. She was released later that day after New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani personally appealed to the president.
what the republican party wants
Republicans in Congress and the White House continue to reject various Democratic proposals.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the mask ban and judicial warrant requirements are not a start. Facial coverings are arguably the biggest issue, as Johnson and other Republicans have said they help protect federal workers from becoming targets of harassment and intimidation.
However, speakers were open to limiting so-called “patrol patrols,” or randomly stopping suspicious vehicles, and strengthening the use of body-worn cameras. Republicans had already agreed to set aside $20 million for body-worn cameras for immigration enforcement agents before the Border Patrol agent’s shooting of Pretty upended a bipartisan agreement to fund DHS through the rest of the year.
Schumer’s office announced on February 27 that it was closely reviewing the White House’s latest counterproposal.
Zachary Schermele is a Congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him at @ZachSchermele on X and @zachschermele.bsky.social on Bluesky..
