Senators scrambled on Thursday to break their logjam over funding the Department of Homeland Security and end the intensifying crisis at airports, haggling over an elusive deal amid disputes over President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
With long lines at airports ahead of a prime spring travel weekend, and with lawmakers eager to compromise ahead of their two-week recess, Democrats and Republicans continued to trade proposals, at times in public in the Senate chamber, to end a weekslong impasse.
Republicans said Thursday morning that they had sent Democrats what Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, called “our last and final” offer, but there was still no sign of a deal by dusk.
The G.O.P. has offered to take out money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. But Democrats have continued to insist that any measure still include limits on federal immigration agents, and that no funds be moved from other parts of the department for detentions and deportations.
Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, hinted at productive talks, saying that the “back and forth” was continuing between the two parties.
“I think the good news is that there is very broad agreement that we have to fund T.S.A.,” he said, referring to the Transportation Security Administration. “The bad news is that there’s not yet agreement on exactly how to fund D.H.S. without Democrats funding ICE, and we’re trying to get clarity on exactly what that looks like.”
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Senators Haggle Over Homeland Security Funding as Airport Lines Grow
