As homeland security shutdown drags on, Thune pivots | Semafor
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security remains shut down for its 17th day as Senate Majority Leader John Thune pivots chamber business toward a bipartisan housing bill, following President Trump's call to ban institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. Thune's strategy allows the Senate to quickly return to DHS funding if a deal is reached, while avoiding voter ID legislation that could trigger a prolonged Democratic filibuster. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is set to testify in both chambers this week, keeping the shutdown and immigration enforcement policies in the spotlight.
The Senate’s vote today to advance a bipartisan housing bill shows that Democrats and Trump are nowhere near a deal on reopening the Department of Homeland Security, which is now shut down for its 17th day.
After President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass legislation banning institutional investors from buying up single-family homes, Senate Majority Leader John Thune pivoted the Senate toward housing, a logical place to add such a ban.
He reasons that the Senate can flip back quickly to DHS funding if there’s a deal, something he can’t do if he turns to voter ID legislation (which would then goad Democrats into using a weeks-long talking filibuster to delay it).
Shutdown politics aren’t going away: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem will testify in both chambers this week, thrusting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies back in the news.
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