A congressional impasse over DHS funding ground on Wednesday, as Democrats declined to take Republicans up on a new offer to separate immigration enforcement and removal operations from the other budget needs of the Department of Homeland Security.
The proposal would have funded most other operations under DHS while negotiations continue over ICE policies.
Democrats said the deal did not meet enough of the core demands they have outlined since the funding fight began, such as requiring agents to carry identification, and prohibiting enforcement raids on certain locations like schools and churches.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who had brokered the deal with the White House and with Democrats on Capitol Hill , expressed frustration to reporters.
"What [Democrats] just did is they pulled out of a deal they negotiated. This needs to end. The country is at high risk," Sen. Graham said. "I don't know what's driving this train. I don't know who's driving this train, but they're driving the country off a cliff here. I try to work across party lines when it makes sense. I have never been more worried about the consequences of this continuing, not only for the inconvenience to the public, which is real and enormous, but for those who are working without pay who have got to be dead tired."
"The terrorists have to be right once," Sen. Graham said, referring to the risk of malicious actors slipping through airport security. "We have to be right all the time."
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Other Republican senators echoed that concern over terror risks, saying this was the highest-risk moment for the country since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Still, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said there was a possibility that if Democrats put a “more realistic offer on the table, we'll be back in business.”
It's not clear if lawmakers will be any closer to reaching a funding deal before the week ends or before next week, when Congress is scheduled to go on a two-week recess.
