The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has now stretched into its 39th day, and if you are scratching your head wondering why, you are not alone.
Here is what makes this situation particularly maddening for those watching from the heartland. Senate Republicans put together a framework that essentially gives Democrats what they have been asking for since this mess began. They met with President Donald Trump earlier this week, hammered out the details, and presented an offer that closely mirrors a proposal Democrats themselves tried to advance on the Senate floor not once, but twice during this shutdown.
The Republican plan would carve out immigration enforcement funding and include reforms to immigration operations. It addresses the core concerns Democrats have been voicing for weeks. Yet Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his caucus have rejected it, promising a counteroffer that, as of Wednesday morning, had yet to materialize.
Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma laid out the Republican frustration in plain terms. “We finally just said, ‘Stop. We’ll just fund everything but Enforcement and Removal Operations.’ That’s what you said you wanted at the beginning. Let’s do that,” Lankford explained. “So no extra language, no extra playing with it. We’re doing just the baseline. We don’t like it. They don’t like it. It opens everything up and gets everybody funded again.”
Meanwhile, TSA agents continue working without paychecks, and airport security lines are growing longer by the day. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee has been sounding the alarm about the massive disruptions this shutdown is causing at airports across the country.
The sticking point appears to be that Democrats want more stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement baked into any final deal. Senator Patty Murray of Washington made that clear when she stated, “If we are talking about funding any part of ICE or Customs and Border Protection, we absolutely must take some key steps to rein them in. The current Republican offer in front of us does not do that.”
Democrats have shut down previous offers from the White House that addressed most of their main concerns, with the exception of requiring judicial warrants for DHS agents and unmasking provisions.
Adding another wrinkle to this already complicated situation, President Trump himself acknowledged on Tuesday that Republicans were getting “fairly close, but I think any deal they make, I’m pretty much not happy with it.”
Schumer said Wednesday that “negotiations are ongoing, and they’ve sent us an offer. And we’ll be sending them an offer back. And I can assure you it will contain significant reform in it.” But as the hours tick by without that counteroffer, Republicans are left wondering whether Democrats are negotiating in good faith.
This latest chapter comes after negotiations between both sides appeared completely dead in the water, only to reignite last week. The back-and-forth has become exhausting for those trying to follow along, and more importantly, for the federal workers caught in the middle.
The question that needs answering is simple. If Republicans are offering essentially what Democrats asked for at the beginning of this standoff, why are we still at an impasse? The American people deserve better than political theater when national security operations hang in the balance.
Related: Trump Sends ICE Agents to Airports as TSA Workforce Shrinks During Shutdown
