John Thune blasts Democrats’ DHS shutdown demands<\/a><\/h4>\nSenate Majority Leader John Thune accuses Democrats of playing politics with the DHS shutdown, explaining how the Senate passed a bill to fund most agencies. He also addresses President Donald Trump’s remarks on rising gas prices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nNEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\nA party-line tactic to ram legislation through Congress and bypass the Senate filibuster has become a dumping ground for Republicans\u2019 legislative priorities throughout the year.<\/p>\n
Now, as Democrats refuse to fund immigration operations, Republicans are once again readying a budget reconciliation package. The hard part will be getting enough of the GOP on the same page to craft a bill that can pass and survive the strict rules underpinning the process.<\/p>\n
Republicans used the same process to pass President Donald Trump’s<\/a> “big, beautiful bill” last year. It\u2019s a time-consuming, labor-intensive legislative maneuver that nearly blew up and could fail unless both the Senate and House align on what exactly they want to include.<\/p>\nSENATE PASSES BILL TO FUND MOST OF DHS AFTER HOUSE GOP CAVES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n![\"President](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1200\/675\/donald-trump-gesturing-oval-office.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nPresident Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Washington.<\/span> (Alex Brandon\/AP Photo)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nTrump officially backed using reconciliation again this week as a way to skirt Democrats\u2019 refusal to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as Congress inches closer to ending the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.<\/p>\n
Trump demanded that Republicans get the bill on his desk by June 1.<\/p>\n
“We are going to work as fast and as focused as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won\u2019t be able to stop us,” Trump said on Truth Social.<\/a><\/p>\nStill, Republicans have viewed reconciliation as a vehicle to tackle fraud, affordability, Trump\u2019s tariff authorities, additional tax provisions, healthcare, funding for the Iran war, supplemental agriculture spending, and election integrity measures in the months since passing the “big, beautiful bill.”<\/p>\n
DHS SHUTDOWN BREAKTHROUGH COMES AT COST FOR REPUBLICANS AS FUNDING FIGHTS NEARS END<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n![\"Senate](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1200\/675\/senate-majority-leader-john-thune-final-offer.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nSenate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Republicans need to “keep our expectations realistic.”<\/span> (Stefani Reynolds\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSenate Majority Leader John Thune,<\/a> R-S.D., has warned that if reconciliation is going to work \u2014 especially given the limited timeframe lawmakers have to start and finish the process \u2014 Republicans need to “keep our expectations realistic.”<\/p>\n“Our theory of the case behind all this was to keep that thing as narrow and focused as possible, and that maximizes the speed at which we can do it and the support for it,” Thune said.<\/p>\n
“There will probably be some attempts to add things,” he continued. “There are things out there that, obviously, many of us are interested in. But on a reconciliation vehicle like this \u2014 which we need to move with haste, as the president has pointed out \u2014 it\u2019s probably not a likely magnet for all these other issues.”<\/p>\n
Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham,<\/a> R-S.C., told voters at an event this week in South Carolina that he is eyeing two new reconciliation packages, which could ease concerns about cramming all the GOP\u2019s priorities into one massive bill.<\/p>\nGOP RAILS AGAINST ‘S— SANDWICH’ DEAL AS ALL EYES TURN TO HOUSE TO END DHS SHUTDOWN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n![\"Lindsey](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1200\/675\/lindsey-graham-homeland-security-budget-capitol-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nSen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., walks to the Senate chamber for votes after meeting behind closed doors with fellow Republicans on the Homeland Security budget stalemate, at the Capitol in Washington, March 26, 2026.<\/span> (J. Scott Applewhite\/AP Photo)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n“We want to do it quick \u2014 ICE, Border Patrol \u2014 fund it as much as you can, multi-year,” Graham said. “Then there\u2019s another one coming. I just made news. There\u2019s another one coming in the fall, and that\u2019s going to be about going after fraud.”<\/p>\n
House Republicans spent their recent policy retreat earlier this year pushing a so-called “reconciliation 2.0,” gearing up to load the package with several provisions that could drain time and struggle to earn support in the Senate \u2014 where strict guidelines could kill proposals entirely if they don\u2019t comply with the rules.<\/p>\n
The Republican Study Committee (RSC), which has long called for a second reconciliation bill, also wants to add proposals addressing affordability concerns.<\/p>\n
“We support pursuing funding for military readiness and Homeland Security<\/a> through this legislative process, while simultaneously codifying the president\u2019s agenda to deliver lower costs for working families,” the RSC Steering Committee said in a statement to Fox News Digital.<\/p>\nSome Republicans are also pushing to include the latest policy fight: the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The voter ID and citizenship verification legislation has no chance of passing the Senate given unified Democratic opposition.<\/p>\n
NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n A party-line tactic to ram legislation through Congress and bypass the Senate filibuster has become a dumping ground for Republicans\u2019 legislative priorities throughout the year.<\/p>\n Now, as Democrats refuse to fund immigration operations, Republicans are once again readying a budget reconciliation package. The hard part will be getting enough of the GOP on the same page to craft a bill that can pass and survive the strict rules underpinning the process.<\/p>\n Republicans used the same process to pass President Donald Trump’s<\/a> “big, beautiful bill” last year. It\u2019s a time-consuming, labor-intensive legislative maneuver that nearly blew up and could fail unless both the Senate and House align on what exactly they want to include.<\/p>\n SENATE PASSES BILL TO FUND MOST OF DHS AFTER HOUSE GOP CAVES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Washington.<\/span> (Alex Brandon\/AP Photo)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Trump officially backed using reconciliation again this week as a way to skirt Democrats\u2019 refusal to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as Congress inches closer to ending the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.<\/p>\n Trump demanded that Republicans get the bill on his desk by June 1.<\/p>\n “We are going to work as fast and as focused as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won\u2019t be able to stop us,” Trump said on Truth Social.<\/a><\/p>\n Still, Republicans have viewed reconciliation as a vehicle to tackle fraud, affordability, Trump\u2019s tariff authorities, additional tax provisions, healthcare, funding for the Iran war, supplemental agriculture spending, and election integrity measures in the months since passing the “big, beautiful bill.”<\/p>\n DHS SHUTDOWN BREAKTHROUGH COMES AT COST FOR REPUBLICANS AS FUNDING FIGHTS NEARS END<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Republicans need to “keep our expectations realistic.”<\/span> (Stefani Reynolds\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Senate Majority Leader John Thune,<\/a> R-S.D., has warned that if reconciliation is going to work \u2014 especially given the limited timeframe lawmakers have to start and finish the process \u2014 Republicans need to “keep our expectations realistic.”<\/p>\n “Our theory of the case behind all this was to keep that thing as narrow and focused as possible, and that maximizes the speed at which we can do it and the support for it,” Thune said.<\/p>\n “There will probably be some attempts to add things,” he continued. “There are things out there that, obviously, many of us are interested in. But on a reconciliation vehicle like this \u2014 which we need to move with haste, as the president has pointed out \u2014 it\u2019s probably not a likely magnet for all these other issues.”<\/p>\n Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham,<\/a> R-S.C., told voters at an event this week in South Carolina that he is eyeing two new reconciliation packages, which could ease concerns about cramming all the GOP\u2019s priorities into one massive bill.<\/p>\n GOP RAILS AGAINST ‘S— SANDWICH’ DEAL AS ALL EYES TURN TO HOUSE TO END DHS SHUTDOWN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., walks to the Senate chamber for votes after meeting behind closed doors with fellow Republicans on the Homeland Security budget stalemate, at the Capitol in Washington, March 26, 2026.<\/span> (J. Scott Applewhite\/AP Photo)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “We want to do it quick \u2014 ICE, Border Patrol \u2014 fund it as much as you can, multi-year,” Graham said. “Then there\u2019s another one coming. I just made news. There\u2019s another one coming in the fall, and that\u2019s going to be about going after fraud.”<\/p>\n House Republicans spent their recent policy retreat earlier this year pushing a so-called “reconciliation 2.0,” gearing up to load the package with several provisions that could drain time and struggle to earn support in the Senate \u2014 where strict guidelines could kill proposals entirely if they don\u2019t comply with the rules.<\/p>\n The Republican Study Committee (RSC), which has long called for a second reconciliation bill, also wants to add proposals addressing affordability concerns.<\/p>\n “We support pursuing funding for military readiness and Homeland Security<\/a> through this legislative process, while simultaneously codifying the president\u2019s agenda to deliver lower costs for working families,” the RSC Steering Committee said in a statement to Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n Some Republicans are also pushing to include the latest policy fight: the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The voter ID and citizenship verification legislation has no chance of passing the Senate given unified Democratic opposition.<\/p>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n