Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said a plan he and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) had proposed to end the DHS shutdown won’t work after all, so he has another proposal.
Kennedy first suggested on Sunday that Republicans should accept Democrats’ proposal to fund all other DHS agencies except ICE, in order to end the shutdown and provide relief to the TSA agents who have been working without pay for weeks.
Then, Kennedy said Republicans could simply pass a reconciliation bill the next day to craft a budget for ICE. He argued they could do it without any Democrat votes, as it would not be subject to the filibuster.
However, he explained that when he and Cruz presented the proposal to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Thune presented it to Trump, the president rejected it, saying Republicans should not be cutting any deals with the Democrats.
Now, Sen. Kennedy said he has another solution, which will take a little longer, but will also get the DHS funding pushed through without having to cut any deals with the Democrats.
“We can shut down all negotiations with the Democrats, and do the whole thing through reconciliation,” Kennedy said, noting that’s how they got the Big Beautiful Bill passed.
He explained it will also have to go through the House, and will take about 10 days to get it done, but it will work and satisfy Trump’s requirement.
WATCH BELOW:
In a post on Truth Social Sunday night, Trump wrote:
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.” It is far more important than anything else we are doing in the Senate, and that includes giving these same terrible people, the Dems (who are to blame for this mess!), a Five Billion Dollar cut in ICE funding, a deal which, even when disguised as something else, is unacceptable to me and the American people – UNLESS it includes their approval of Voter I.D., (with picture!), Citizenship to Vote, No Mail-In Voting (with exceptions), All Paper Ballots, No Men In Women’s Sports, and No Transgender MUTILIZATION of our precious children.
Put it all together, and also, let Leader Thune clearly identify those few “Republicans” that are Voting against AMERICA. They will never be elected again! In other words, lump everything together as one, and VOTE!!! Kill the Filibuster, and stay in D.C. for Easter, if necessary. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 23, 2026
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