WASHINGTON — The White House on Monday formally requested that Congress approve a new tranche of border security funding, a proposal that comes as lawmakers remain locked in a protracted dispute over the operating budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The funding request, the specifics of which were outlined in a letter to congressional leadership, seeks to allocate additional resources for border enforcement and migrant processing. The move comes as DHS remains partially funded through a series of stopgap measures following a breakdown in negotiations over a full-year appropriations bill.
President Donald J. Trump, in a phone interview with Fox News on Friday, rejected a Senate-passed funding bill, arguing it was insufficient because it did not include appropriations for key enforcement agencies. “You can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund ICE. You can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund any form of law enforcement,” Trump said.
The Senate bill, which passed in the early hours of March 27, funds parts of DHS, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), but excludes funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. The House rejected that measure, with Speaker Mike Johnson calling it a “joke”. The House previously passed a bill funding the entire department, but it failed to advance in the Senate.
Rep. Derek Tran (D-Calif.), who voted against a recent House Republican continuing resolution, said the path forward requires compromise. “The bipartisan Senate supplemental bill represents a hard-fought compromise that found genuine common ground between both parties,” Tran said in a statement on March 27. “That legislation provides the necessary resources for border technology, additional personnel, and humanitarian infrastructure”.
The standoff has resulted in a partial shutdown of the department, now in its 42nd day. The White House has issued a memo directing DHS to pay TSA workers during the lapse, which a department spokesperson said would begin as soon as Monday.
Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows that unaccompanied migrant children continue to arrive at the southwest border, with the Rio Grande Valley sector reporting the highest number of encounters since the fiscal year began in October.
As of Monday evening, congressional leaders had not announced a scheduled vote on the new funding request.
