Republicans take another crack at Homeland Security funding, citing Iran
war
[March 05, 2026]
By KEVIN FREKING
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are invoking the war in Iran and the
prospect of retaliatory terrorist attacks as they tee up votes Thursday
on a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
The House already approved a DHS spending bill in January, but it
faltered in the Senate as Democrats insisted on changes to immigration
enforcement operations following the shooting death of ICU nurse Alex
Pretti in Minneapolis. As a result, funding for the department lapsed on
Feb. 14.
Republicans are calling on Democrats to reconsider their vote in the
wake of the conflict in Iran. Both the House and the Senate are expected
to hold votes on the matter.
“The military action in Iran makes it all more urgent and crucial to
have a fully funded, fully staffed DHS across all its departments,”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
It did not appear the GOP's strategy had changed the position of
Democratic lawmakers, though. They said they are prepared to fund most
of the agencies at the department, just not Immigration and Customs
Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection.
“It's the same lousy, rotten bill that does not put any guardrails or
constraints on ICE or CBP after federal agents shot American citizens in
the street,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
Workers are beginning to miss part of their paychecks
Following the longest federal shutdown in the country’s history last
year, Congress has completed work on 11 of this year’s 12 appropriations
bills. Only the bill for Homeland Security remains outstanding.
Republicans said the timing couldn't be worse for a Homeland Security
shutdown. While a large majority of the department's employees are
considered essential and continue to work, many will not receive a full
paycheck this week.
Republicans said the prospect of an increase in unscheduled absences by
the Transportation Security Administration's agents and screeners could
lead to longer wait times at the nation's airports. Meanwhile, the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has canceled various
assessments to determine vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure. And
training for first responders conducted through the Federal Emergency
Management Agency has been canceled.
“Can we not understand America is under siege, now likely to be attacked
because radical Islam is under siege, and they’re going to hit back and
we’re sitting here looking at each other and not funding DHS," Sen.
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said during a hearing Tuesday featuring DHS
Secretary Kristi Noem.
Democrats are seeking several changes at the department include
prohibiting ICE enforcement operations at sensitive locations like
schools and churches, allowing independent investigations into alleged
wrongdoing, requiring warrants to be signed by judges before federal
agents can forcibly enter private homes or other nonpublic spaces
without consent, and requiring agents to wear identification and remove
their masks.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. speaks as Department of Homeland
Security Secretary Kristi Noem, testifies during a Senate Judiciary
Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday,
March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Republicans note that the bill does include a bipartisan provision
directing more resources for deescalation training and $20 million
to outfit immigration enforcement agents with body-worn cameras.
Little to show from negotiations
The White House and congressional Democrats don't appear to have
made significant progress in recent weeks resolving their
differences after trading several offers.
“Look, we're still far apart but we're negotiating and exchanging
paper back and forth,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said.
Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, the Republican chairwoman of a panel that
oversees homeland security funding, said she’s been talking to
Democrats about a possible pathway forward, but prospects are
unclear.
She and other Republicans are citing last weekend's mass shooting in
Austin as an example of the dangerous threat environment that's
facing Americans following the attack on Iran.
“I think that it is incredibly irresponsible to not fund the agency
that is supposed to keep us safe here at home,” Britt said.
Democrats said they are ready to fully fund all the agencies within
the department except for ICE and CBP.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations
Committee, authored a proposal to do that, but it was blocked from
consideration. She said Republican leadership was using Trump's
“aimless, costly and illegal war with Iran to force through more
funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection without any of the
substantial changes that the vast majority of Americans believe
those agencies need."
“It is a cynical effort and it is one that will fail," DeLauro said.
___
Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this
report.
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