Deal to reopen DHS sputters on Capitol Hill as anxiety in both parties spikes

By Sarah Ferris, Annie Grayer, Morgan Rimmer, Alison Main, Aileen Graef, CNN

(CNN) — The latest push to reopen the Department of Homeland Security is sputtering on Capitol Hill, with frustrations so high that some rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties are privately meeting on their own to try to salvage talks.

Just a day earlier, Senate GOP leaders believed they’d found a compromise that would reopen the shuttered DHS by this weekend. But that plan — which would withhold money for federal immigration enforcement but without any policy changes — has fallen flat in both parties, leaving President Donald Trump and GOP leaders with no clear path to end the nearly 40-day stalemate before Congress leaves in two days for a two-week recess.

And with Democrats, too, rejecting the strategy, an uncharacteristically downbeat Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that it felt that talks were “going in circles” – signaling the impasse could go on for much longer.

Meanwhile, a leading Senate negotiator, GOP Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, huddled with several House Democratic centrists on Wednesday morning in a frantic attempt to salvage talks and keep both parties at the table for a deal, according to multiple people familiar with the meeting.

Britt, as she left the meeting, told reporters that negotiators “have to” get a deal done this week, adding: “There’s deals on the table.”

Another person familiar with the discussions said it’s a direct result of the intense pressure lawmakers are feeling back home over the department shutdown, which has caused hours-long security lines at airports nationwide.

“We can’t walk away. We need to get something done, we need to get airports open,” that person said.

While top Democrats have insisted that voters will blame Republicans for the shutdown, one senior House Democratic aide suggested that could soon change: “This can’t go on much longer and not have the American people begin to also blame Democrats.”

With just two days until lawmakers are set to leave town for the Easter and Passover recess, Thune said Wednesday he still believes his strategy is the best route to a deal. But he will have to win over plenty of skeptics, including in his own party. Conservatives are balking at the prospect of defunding some Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, and Trump has notably refused to back the plan in full.

In a possible sign of hope for the negotiations, Trump’s press secretary said Wednesday that he’s open to “all strategies” for passing a major elections overhaul bill, including an arcane Senate budget maneuver, that he had tied to the DHS fundings talks, threatening to hold up progress.

But Democrats delivered a formal rejection of Republicans’ latest funding plan late Wednesday morning, demanding some of the same ICE reforms that had bogged down the initial talks — something that Senate Republicans say is not on the table if Democrats don’t agree to actually fund ICE.

“Our offer is a reasonable, good-faith proposal that contains some of the very same asks Democrats have been talking about,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, announcing the party’s counteroffer that was sent on behalf of both House and Senate Democratic leaders.

“We’ve been talking about ICE reforms from day one. These are not new demands,” Schumer said.

According to a source familiar with the counteroffer, the party asked for policy changes dealing with officer identification, mask-wearing, judicial warrants, funding for body-worn cameras, training standards and protections of schools, churches and other sensitive locations from being the target of immigration enforcement activity.

The White House had agreed to those policies last week in the context of fully funding DHS including immigration enforcement operations. The latest proposal from Republicans, however, sought to fund every part of DHS except immigration enforcement.

Republicans, though, are exasperated by what they see as Democrats’ constantly changing demands.

GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy likened Democrats to Iran amid the ongoing war, arguing “they feel like they can hold a hostage and get more gained. And it doesn’t matter that people are suffering in our country or theirs.”

“They keep moving the goalpost. It sounds a lot like they feel like they’ve got a good Strait of Hormuz. They can chokepoint travel, this time for the American people, to achieve their political goals. That’s tragic,” he later added.

Some Democrats are arguing that Congress should advance a bill to fund only the Transportation Security Administration, which has been crippled by staffing shortages as workers continue to go unpaid. On Wednesday, the White House said it had rejected Elon Musk’s offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel while DHS remains shuttered, citing the “great legal challenges” the move would pose.

Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján expressed frustration that Republicans haven’t yet backed advancing a bill to fund TSA, noting that Sens. Ted Cruz and John Kennedy have been open to such legislation.

“I’ve heard other Republicans privately say that we should get moving on this. So I certainly hope that we can get that done while other negotiations continue to take place,” Luján said.

Thune has suggested that the Senate would not leave town next week if DHS remains shut down. But House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated he would not keep the House in session if the Senate fails to come to a DHS funding deal in time, adding, “We’re greatly frustrated.”

“Well, the House can sit around here and wait upon the Senate. They can go home and work in their districts and be summoned right back. As soon as the Senate acts, we’ll be ready to act,” Johnson said, adding that House members would be given 72 hours’ notice to return.

The House Republican leader said he would speak with the president later Wednesday but wouldn’t elaborate on what they would discuss.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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CNN’s Lauren Fox and Adam Cancryn contributed to this report.