Indeed, thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, ICE remains fully funded to the tune of tens of billions of dollars for the next several years. As Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) was quick to point out, his Democratic Party colleagues did not get a single concession on ICE. He continued:
“Democrats didn’t actually want a solution. … They wanted an issue. Politics over policy, self-interest over reform, pandering to their base instead of actually solving the problem.”
Optics Over Opinion?
On Wednesday, March 25, the Senate GOP made an offer that Schumer rejected. It would have funded DHS, except for ICE. Sound familiar?
In response, Mr. Schumer said, “We thought there had been some progress. Then Republicans sent us their offer yesterday, and it contained none of what we talked about, none of the reforms we had been discussing.” “So, if anyone is slowing down negotiation and hurting TSA workers, it is the Republican leadership, who did not include one single reform,” he stated on the Senate floor.
What happened?
Between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday night, the math changed for Senate Democrats. The bill was essentially the same, but the vote was not. Such a 180-degree turn suggests that Thune’s assessment may not have been far off the mark.
With ICE stepping in for the TSA and Trump threatening to pay airport workers via executive order, the notion that Democrat leadership was using the shutdown as a political cudgel seems more and more likely. It’s a question of leverage, and Trump just pulled the fulcrum.
