“In a joint statement, House speaker Mike Johnson and Senate majority leader John Thune said they would move to pass a measure, approved by the Senate unanimously last week, which would fund DHS while excluding money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and parts of Customs and Border Protection.”

“They would also abandon an attempt pushed by House Republicans to fund all of DHS for 60 days, which Senate Democrats vowed to block with a filibuster.”

“Democrats have objected to funding ICE and other agencies involved in Trump’s mass deportation campaign unless the administration agreed to new rules governing agents’ conduct when making immigration arrests, including a ban on wearing masks and a requirement that they seek judicial warrants before entering residences.”

“To get around their objections, Thune and Johnson endorsed a plan from Senate budget committee chair Lindsey Graham to write a measure funding ICE that could be passed with Republican votes alone, using the budget reconciliation procedure.”

“We appreciate that Senator Graham and the Senate budget committee have already initiated the process of developing a budget resolution that will ensure border security and immigration enforcement will be funded for the balance of the Trump administration and insulated from future attempts by the Democrats to defund those agencies,” the Republican leaders said.”

“It remains unclear when the Senate and House of Representatives, which are scheduled to be on recess through this week and the next, can pass the DHS funding bill.”

“Johnson and Thune said they hoped to resolve the matter “in the coming days”, a sign that they may try to pass it during the brief ceremonial sessions that the chambers hold during congressional recesses. Both the House and Senate have their next ones scheduled on Thursday morning.”