Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) presented a new proposal to President Trump on Sunday to end the Homeland Security shutdown that has left airports across the country with a TSA agent shortage and long lines of disgruntled Americans.
The deal with the Democrats reportedly would fund DHS, but not ICE. Trump rejected Thune’s pitch and doubled down with pressure on lawmakers to pass the SAVE Act. (Thune proposed that ICE funding could be handled in a reconciliation package.)
With the DHS shutdown now in its 37th day, Senate Majority Leader John Thune approached President Trump with a new proposal — but Trump said no.
Here’s why.
@JakeSherman and @apalmerdc dive into it all on #TheDailyPunch. https://t.co/Lqi1TOOBP9 pic.twitter.com/8EK6MZKeiX
— Punchbowl News (@PunchbowlNews) March 23, 2026
Republican political strategist Reed Galen, who served in the Department of Homeland Security and at Treasury during the George W. Bush administration, responded to the news by suggesting the Senate send Trump the bill: “Send him the bill. Make him veto it.”
[Note: Galen is a co-founder of The Lincoln Project, “a pro-democracy organization founded by former Republican strategists with the goal of defeating Donald Trump.”]
Send him the bill. Make him veto it. https://t.co/h4RRue73oY
— Reed Galen (@reedgalen) March 23, 2026
More than one X user replied with comments doubting Galen’s suggestion would come to pass, including one commenter who replied “but that would take courage from Senate GOP that they abandoned 10 years ago.” Aligning with the former, another commenter wrote: “@SenateGOP are too cowardly to pass this bill.”
The comments saw some support, too, for Galen’s strategy to make the shutdown a Trump crucible moment: “Exactly. That’s how you deal with a petulant child. Then after he vetoes it, override his veto.”