Senate Majority Leader John Thune set a deadline of next week for resolving the Homeland Security Department funding standoff, as Senate appropriators of both parties held a face-to-face meeting Thursday with White House "border czar" Tom Homan. Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said the meeting — the first of its kind since the department's partial shutdown began a month ago — was a “pretty big deal and a recognition that we need to get this resolved.” He also threatened to curtail a scheduled two-week spring recess in early April if there was still no deal by then. “It needs to get resolved by the end of next week,” Thune told reporters. “I can't see us taking a break if the government's still shut down.” But lawmakers signaled little progress after the roughly 90-minute meeting with Homan adjourned at the Capitol Thursday afternoon. "I'm glad that the White House is here, but we're still a long ways apart," said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. Asked if both sides were closer to a deal, she said, "No." Homan wouldn’t characterize progress from the talks and said lawmakers need to “get the government back open.” “We’re going to keep having discussions,” Homan told reporters when asked if the White House was willing to make further concessions in bipartisan talks. “That’s all I’m going to say.” The meeting drew participation from several key moderates who broke ranks to help end the historic partial government shutdown last fall, including Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Neither took questions from reporters afterward, though there hasn't been any indication yet that a repeat of the caucus defections from last fall is on the table. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said “there was a robust discussion” and that progress was made, but she also accused Democrats of adding more demands. However, Collins also said she expects to see another offer from the White House. "We're going to keep trying, but it would be helpful if the Democrats showed some movement on their part, which doesn't seem to be happening," she said. Obstacles to a deal In a letter to Collins earlier this week, Homan and Office of Legislative Affairs Director James Braid said they would agree to legislation expanding the use of body-worn cameras by immigration agents, limiting enforcement at certain "sensitive" locations such as schools and hospitals, as well as mandating agents wear visible identification, among other items. But a Democratic aide said the party is continuing to push for measures they’ve proposed for weeks following public uproar over the fatal shootings in January of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by immigration enforcement agents. Those demands included no masks for immigration agents and requiring them to obtain judicial warrants to enter private property — both of which have been major sticking points in talks. Many Republicans have been resistant to the idea of removing masks for immigration agents, citing concerns about law enforcement being doxed and targeted. They have also expressed resistance to judicial warrants, saying such a mandate would bog down the courts and make an immigration crackdown impractical. But President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next Homeland Secretary secretary, Sen. Markwayne Mulllin, R-Okla., appeared to give a little ground on that point at his confirmation hearing Wednesday. He told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that "judicial warrants will be used to go into houses, into place of businesses – unless we're pursuing someone that enters in that place.” Democrats reacted cautiously, stressing the need for changes resulting from talks to be reflected in legislative language. More than a month has passed since DHS has been funded, although the administration has partly blunted the blow of the lapse by drawing from a separate pot of cash approved for the agency as part of last year’s reconciliation law. But as thousands of TSA workers go without full paychecks, with longer lines at airports and increased absences by officers dominating national headlines, lawmakers on both sides face growing pressure to end the standoff. Aidan Quigley, Jacob Fulton and Savannah Behrmann contributed to this report.
