Dem
47
GOP
53
Even though Republicans control both the House and Senate, they are far from being on the same page on everything. Especially on funding DHS. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) made a deal with the Democrats to get a funding bill for DHS, except ICE, through the Senate. It was a struggle, but he did it. Then the House killed it. Thune was not happy. He was even less happy when Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called the bill a "joke." Johnson was unhappy because the ICE funding was not there (because Thune didn't have the votes for that). Johnson is also angry that he was not consulted before the Senate vote. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) wasn't happy either. He went on Fox News and said: "Our speaker is very unhappy. I'm not happy... What the Senate did was, frankly, not right."
Thune, for his part, defended the bill as getting nearly all of the government funding without giving the Democrats what they wanted. He was proud of that. Over in the House, even rank-and-file members were unhappy. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said: "The Senate right now is just having issues with stepping on rakes left and right."
Then suddenly and unexpectedly late yesterday, Donald Trump changed his mind again and greenlighted the Senate bill he had previously opposed. Consistency is not his thing. Johnson immediately cheered for the bill he had called a "joke." The bill funds all of DHS except ICE and CBP and can be passed by the regular order now, maybe as soon as today.
What the administration is now planning is a second budget reconciliation bill to fund ICE and CBP and get it done by June 1. The problem is that many senators and congress critters want to stuff the bill with stuff that will fail the Byrd bath. Trump wants to stuff the SAVE America Act in there as well, which Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough will never accept. If that bill is budget only, the trick might work, in which case Democrats will get none of what they wanted. Republicans could have done this 2 months ago and avoided the shutdown altogether, but with a mercurial president who changes his views on bills daily, that was simply not feasible.
There are other bills floating around where the chambers disagree. One is the SAVE America Act, which would make voting more difficult by requiring documentary proof of citizenship to vote, something over 20 million eligible voters don't have and can't get easily. The House passed the bill, but the votes for it aren't there in the Senate, and firebrands like Luna are telling the Senate what it should do. Senators tend not to take direction from House members, especially not backbenchers like Luna, who recently said: "The Senate is absolutely, just totally incompetent." (V)