The Senate reached a deal early Friday morning to push a Department of Homeland Security funding package over the finish line and to the House, but both Democrats and Republicans gave up concessions they fought for during the nearly six-week shutdown.
In a voice vote around 2:30 a.m. Friday, the Senate agreed to fund DHS without Immigration and Customs Enforcement or border security operations. The deal will now head to the House floor for voting on final legislative approval.
Though no party got everything they wanted in the overnight deal that inches DHS closer to having funding restored, here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers of the Senate gridlock breakthrough.
SENATE SENDS DHS BILL TO THE HOUSE WITHOUT ICE FUNDING
Winner: Democrats
Senate Democrats and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) succeeded in getting a DHS bill over the line without funding for ICE or Customs and Border Protection, a key priority throughout the shutdown fight. However, they did fold on other demands.
Schumer and the Democratic Party had said they were going to stand firm on key policy changes for immigration enforcement in the wake of the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.
The Democrats were demanding provisions be put in place to implement policies such as barring immigration officers from wearing face masks while conducting enforcement operations and requiring ICE officers to wear body cameras while on the job. But none of these policy demands ended up in the legislation they agreed to.
However, Schumer maintained that Democrats did their job, telling the chamber, “Senate Democrats stood united — no wavering, no backing down. We held the line.”
Winner: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD)
Thune rallied his caucus to get a deal over the finish line, which didn’t seem likely just days ago.
The Senate-amended funding package fully funds all other DHS agencies besides ICE and CBP. This includes agencies such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Coast Guard — all agencies that are critical amid the Iran war.
Though the vote didn’t fund ICE or CBP, it isn’t as big a loss for Republicans as it could’ve been because both agencies already have significant budgets due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The act specifically designated appropriations of about $74.9 billion for ICE and $64.7 billion for CBP.
When a deal was imminent, Thune took a parting shot at Democrats, blaming them for “moving the goal posts” during shutdown negotiations.
“The White House made offer after offer, putting forward a robust list of additional reforms, and Democrats just kept moving the goal posts,” Thune said on the floor.
Losers: Travelers and TSA officers
During the past 41 days of the shutdown, the biggest losers have been travelers in U.S. airports and TSA, who have not been receiving paychecks.
At airports during the shutdown, travelers have waited in longer-than-usual security screening lines as many TSA officers called out due to the missed paychecks. TSA officers could miss at least three paychecks if the shutdown continues.
On Monday, the TSA call-out rate hit its highest level of the shutdown at nearly 12%, with over TSA officers resigning since it began in mid-February.
Loser: Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
Lee has advocated for the SAVE America Act at every turn in the Senate, including arguing that the upper chamber should cancel its Easter recess to pass both DHS funding and the act. With this scenario failing, Lee takes a loss here.
“The Senate Democrats are blocking the SAVE AMERICA Act. We remain captive to them at every turn, they put us further in debt and render our government incapable of performing even its most basic functions, while jeopardizing our economic security and our national security by heaping on more debt,” Lee said on Thursday night in a video on the filibuster.
The SAVE America Act has been a priority for President Donald Trump, who wanted Thune to tie the two packages together.
“I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,’” Trump said Sunday on Truth Social. “It is far more important than anything else we are doing in the Senate…”
SENATE GOP TO MAKE ‘DOWN PAYMENT’ ON SAVE AMERICA ACT WITH PARTY-LINE BILL
In the coming days, the GOP is expected to use reconciliation to try to pass funding for ICE and the SAVE America Act.
Honorable mention: ICE
Despite its loss of funding in the Senate-agreed-upon DHS appropriations package, ICE could walk away, in part, as a winner of the shutdown.
The immigration enforcement agency has struggled with its public image, especially after officers fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January. During the shutdown, the Trump administration deployed ICE officers to help with airport security and, in part, to help repair the agency’s reputation.
Photos and videos shared on social media show ICE officers handing out water bottles to stranded travelers and helping TSA workers.