A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Members of Congress will face some difficult and familiar problems when they return to session this week.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Both parties are struggling to strike a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security to help alleviate chaos at U.S. airports. And the first big hurdle is in the Senate. Here's Senate Majority Leader John Thune talking to reporters earlier this weekend.
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JOHN THUNE: This is a pox on everybody's house. When you got people standing in lines at airports, this needs to get fixed. It needs to get resolved.
MARTIN: Senate Republicans need Democrats' help to get DHS funded again ahead of an upcoming recess. In a couple of minutes, we'll speak with Senator Alex Padilla of California, who's the top Democrat on panels overseeing immigration and federal elections. First, though, the latest information.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales is here now. So funding expired - what? - more than a month ago for DHS. What's holding up any deal?
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Right. Good morning, A. Both sides remain deeply entrenched since the agency largely ran out of funds February 14. And as we know, Democrats are demanding significant reforms for immigration enforcement agents. They want agents to remove their masks, for example - a sticking point for the GOP. So this fight is keeping workers at several DHS components, including the Transportation Security Administration from getting paychecks and resulting in those long airport lines we're seeing.
MARTÍNEZ: Does the Senator see any way out at this stage?
GRISALES: Well, it depends who you ask. Thune and other Republicans say they've put offers on the table that Democrats should accept. Democrats argue Republicans should agree to fund all of the other DHS components like TSA, because last year, Republicans directed major appropriations to the agency's immigration side through a partisan bill. Here's Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
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CHUCK SCHUMER: We will keep doing this and doing this until the Republicans see the light, feel the pressure that they are holding up payment and relent.
GRISALES: We're also watching if any Senate Democrats break ranks, but it's not clear that happens in the near future. For now, Thune could cancel a two-week recess set to start one week from today if there's no deal in hand.
MARTÍNEZ: And another thing, Claudia, to factor in is that the GOP-led Senate is also on track to vote for a new DHS secretary today.
GRISALES: Mm-hmm. Right. Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin is on track for confirmation to the role tonight. So, surprisingly, yesterday we saw two Senate Democrats join Republicans to move forward on this vote. That's a signal Mullin is seen as a much more reasonable negotiator than his predecessor, Kristi Noem. He's already said he would look at allowing judicial warrants rather than administrative warrants in some cases, and that's a big demand for Democrats, giving them hope of a breakthrough.
MARTÍNEZ: I also saw that President Trump demanded Republicans tie DHS funding to another bill this week, and he posted online telling Republicans not to end the shutdown until Democrats agree to pass his SAVE America Act, which includes major voting reforms. Tell us more about that one.
GRISALES: Yes, Trump has made the stricter voter ID law the priority for Congress to handle. It would require proof of citizenship to register to vote - and that's a nonstarter for Democrats. They say that would actually deter citizens from voting because of the new burden. Previously, Trump threatened a legislative blockade to only sign DHS appropriations into law until the SAVE Act passed Congress. So this new threat is a reversal. It's probably throwing a wrench into bipartisan talks to fund DHS now. He's also pushed for this law to include a provision addressing gender in sports, but an amendment to do just that failed over the weekend. And it's clear Senate Republicans do not have the votes right now to pass the SAVE America Act bill yet, but Republicans want to keep the debate going.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Claudia Grisales. Thanks a lot.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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