Congress Homeland Security

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., flanked by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., left, and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., speaks to reporters following a closed-door party meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 21, 2026.

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Senate passes budget plan for ICE and Border Patrol in bid to reopen Homeland Security Department

Senate passes budget plan for ICE and Border Patrol in bid to reopen Homeland Security Department

The Senate has taken the first steps in a new effort to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, voting to adopt a budget plan that would fund ICE and Border Patrol over Democratic objections. The vote early Thursday sends the plan to the House. The entire department has been shut since mid-February as Democrats demanded policy changes after federal agents fatally shot two protesters. Republicans are now trying to fund the two agencies through the complicated, time-consuming process called budget reconciliation, a maneuver that they also used to pass President Donald Trump’s package of tax and spending cuts last year with no Democratic votes.