March 17, 2026Updated March 18, 2026, 10:36 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON ‒ Seeking to end the rapidly worsening shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, the White House has offered to expand the use of body-worn cameras for federal immigration enforcement agents and limit their activities at churches, schools, and hospitals.
But a month into the crisis, the Trump administration is still holding firm on one of the more contentious parts of the debate to reform the 9/11-era Cabinet agency, opposing any kind of ban on masks for law enforcement officers.
The concessions were detailed in a March 17 letter to Senate Republican leaders from top Trump administration officials about the status of negotiations between the White House and congressional Democrats.
As terrorism threats rise and airport security lines grow longer across the country, the letter underscores the intensifying pressure on the Trump administration and lawmakers to end the shutdown of the agency that has been widely scrutinized since the killings of two Minnesotans by Homeland Security officers earlier this year.
It also emphasized just how entrenched Republicans and Democrats remain in their respective political positions, even as the shutdown’s impacts multiply by the day. The letter made no mention of banning face coverings, something Democrats have insisted is a priority. And even its most significant concessions included caveats (or have already been agreed to in other ways or laid out in federal law).
Still, the letter’s authors ‒ border czar Tom Homan and James Braid, the White House director of legislative affairs ‒ argued the administration has tried to negotiate in good faith to end the funding impasse.
“Democrats really should be ashamed of putting our country and so many federal employees in this position,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters on March 17.
Democrats lay the blame back on Republicans. While they’re supportive of President Donald Trump‘s decision to fire DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, they’ve indicated they want heavier policy changes.
“A change in personnel is not sufficient,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, said on March 16. “We need a change in policy. We need dramatic, bold, meaningful and transformational changes, so that ICE conducts itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country.”
What else did the White House offer?
In their letter to Congress, White House officials pledged to limit immigration enforcement activities at so-called “sensitive locations” such as churches and schools. Included in the promise, however, was a “narrow carve-out for immediate needs like national security, flight risks, and public safety.”
Though there was no statement of support for a mask-wearing ban, the administration said it would require federal agents to say who they are upon request (“undercover officers would not be subject to these requirements,” according to the letter).
Officials also promised not to deport or knowingly detain any U.S. citizens “except when the person violates a state or federal law that makes the citizen subject to arrest.”
Democrats try to force piecemeal bills for TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard
In recent weeks, Democrats have repeatedly tried to pass bills that would support other critical parts of the DHS, such as the Transportation Security Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency. More than 300 TSA agents have resigned since the shutdown began, and call-out rates are rising rapidly, creating airport security hurdles and risks of potentially shutting down smaller airports in the future.
But Democrats have purposely left out funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection from those proposals while negotiations with the White House continue.
“Fund FEMA, not ICE,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote on social media last week. “Pretty clear cut.”
Any funding bills that ignore ICE and CBP are nonstarters for Republicans, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“As one of the primary agencies responsible for protecting the homeland, Customs and Border Protection plays an irreplaceable role in our national security framework,” he told reporters on March 17. “This is not a game.”
On March 18, House Democrats plan to move forward with another vote to fund only the less controversial parts of DHS. With a razor-thin GOP majority, they’re hoping to pick off at least some Republicans whose constituents may be frustrated by TSA woes or otherwise feeling the effects of the shutdown.
Any House-passed bill still would need Senate approval, which isn’t likely until Democrats reach a deal with the White House.
Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
