Key takeaways:
- The U.S. Senate is close to funding the Department of Homeland Security to end a six-week partial government shutdown, with a proposal excluding ICE deportation funding but including other DHS agencies; ICE funding and parts of the SAVE America Act will be pursued separately through budget reconciliation.
- Negotiations have been tense due to demands linking DHS funding to the controversial SAVE America Act, which includes strict voter ID and citizenship requirements opposed by Democrats; bipartisan talks continue with cautious optimism from key senators.
- President Trump, despite publicly criticizing mail-in voting as fraudulent, cast a mail-in ballot in a Florida special election and continues to promote the SAVE America Act, which allows exceptions for mail ballots under certain conditions.
The U.S. Senate is nearing an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and end a partial government shutdown that has lasted six weeks, disrupting air travel and other operations. On Monday evening, a group of Senate Republicans met with President Donald Trump at the White House and returned to Capitol Hill expressing optimism about a potential deal. Senator Katie Britt of Alabama told reporters, “We do,” when asked if Republicans had a solution. Senate leaders aim to finalize legislative text and resolve the impasse later this week.
The emerging proposal would provide funding for most DHS agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Coast Guard, but would exclude funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) deportation operations. Senate Republicans plan to approve ICE funding and parts of the SAVE America Act—a controversial elections reform bill—through the budget reconciliation process. This procedure allows legislation to pass with a simple majority, bypassing the usual 60-vote threshold, but it requires the bill’s provisions to have direct budgetary effects.
The DHS shutdown began on February 14 after Democrats refused to fund the agency without reforms to ICE, following two fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis in January. Bipartisan negotiations have been ongoing, with senators meeting border czar Tom Homan twice last week amid mounting pressure to end the stalemate. President Trump initially complicated talks by demanding that DHS funding be linked to the SAVE America Act, which includes provisions requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification to cast ballots—measures strongly opposed by Democrats. After the White House meeting, GOP Senators Steve Daines, Bernie Moreno, Lindsey Graham, and Katie Britt expressed cautious optimism. Senator Susan Collins, the Senate’s top appropriator, said, “I’m more optimistic that by the end of the week we will fund the Department of Homeland Security.”
Separately, President Trump cast a mail-in ballot in an upcoming Florida special election, despite publicly denouncing mail voting as fraudulent. Palm Beach County records show his ballot was received and counted, though the method of delivery was not specified. Trump has repeatedly criticized mail-in voting, calling it “mail-in cheating,” and has pushed the SAVE America Act, which seeks to impose stricter voter ID and citizenship documentation requirements but would not eliminate mail voting altogether. White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales stated that the bill includes exceptions for mail ballots cast due to illness, disability, military service, or travel, and described the president’s participation in Florida elections as routine.
Trump’s stance on mail voting has been inconsistent; he voted by mail in 2020 while publicly condemning the practice as susceptible to fraud, a claim unsupported by evidence. During that election cycle, he attributed his loss to expanded mail voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In his recent remarks in Memphis, Tennessee, Trump falsely claimed that the United States is the only country using mail-in voting, despite at least 32 countries employing the method. The Florida special election includes a race for the state House district encompassing Mar-a-Lago, where Trump carried the district by about 11 percentage points in the 2024 presidential race. Trump endorsed Republican Jon Maples in the contest, urging voters to participate ahead of Tuesday’s election.
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