Dem
47
GOP
53
The mess with DHS is another story where the stuff coming from Trump over the weekend, and the stuff coming from Trump by the end of the day Monday, was very different stuff.
Let's start with the weekend. In among the blather on Truth Social this weekend was this:
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
In addition to threatening "no DHS bill until the SAVE Act is passed," Trump also pulled strings to kill a compromise that was being hammered out by moderate senators from both parties. You might say he was guilty of the "MUTILIZATION" of the compromise.
However, two things happened on Monday that may have changed the equation. The first is that, early in the morning, there was a disaster at LaGuardia Airport where an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck, killing both pilots. (Z) spoke to a friend who was in the Air Force for 20+ years, and also has some civilian airport experience on his résumé, and he said this was absolutely due to airport staff being spread too thin, and to air traffic controllers being overworked. It is one thing when people have to wait an extra long time to get through screening (which is certainly not GOOD, politically); it's another thing when people are dying due to accidents, and passengers don't feel safe. And there's an excellent chance the finger could be pointed at the GOP and the White House.
The second thing that happened, later in the day, is that the Senate approved Markwayne Mullin as the replacement for Kristi Noem leading DHS. The vote was 54-45, and broke along party lines, except Sen. Rand Paul ("R"-KY) voted against confirmation, Sen. John Fetterman ("D"-PA) crossed the aisle to sit in the engraved seat Republicans have crafted for him so as to vote for Mullin, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) joined Fetterman in voting for confirmation because Mullin is "a good friend," and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) did not vote. We do not know if Gallego's absence was just a coincidence, or if he's deliberately dodging tricky votes in anticipation of a presidential run, but he was in Texas yesterday at a town hall for veterans.
Late yesterday, after these two developments, The Hill reported that Trump was suddenly open to a compromise measure on funding DHS. It would seem that at least part of the sales pitch to him is that the GOP will get TSA open, with Democratic votes, very soon. Then, the Republicans will go back and pass a reconciliation bill that has more money for ICE, plus some of the SAVE Act goodies Trump wants.
We are not too sure about the viability of either half of that; there may not be 50 Senate Republicans (or the necessary number of House Republicans) who want to become sole proprietors of ICE's excesses, while the SAVE Act goodies are not likely to pass muster with Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, and so aren't likely to be eligible for a reconciliation bill. Still, it doesn't matter whether we believe or not. All that really matters is that Trump believes. And, at the moment—while making allowance for his mercurial nature, and that he might change his mind based on the last person to be in his ear—it looks like he does believe. So, maybe DHS will be open again sometime soon. (Z)