Senate Clears Deal To End DHS Shutdown Amid Airport Chaos—ICE Funding Excluded

TL;DR

Senate Vote Remains Open Amid DHS Negotiations | Balance of Power: Late Edition 03/26/26 The Senate again failed to advance a bill to fund part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has now been shut down for almost six weeks. The latest vote came just hours after Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order instructing Markwayne Mullin, the DHS secretary, to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents during the shutdown, a move that could ease the immediate urgency for Congress to reach a deal as it heads into a scheduled two‑week recess. By a vote of 53-47, mostly along party lines, the upper chamber fell short of the 60 votes needed to move the legislation forward – the seventh failed attempt.