Sen. John Kennedy Unveils Backup Plan to Fund Entire DHS Through Reconciliation

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) has shifted to a new strategy to resolve the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown that began Feb. 14, 2026, by funding all DHS agencies through budget reconciliation.

Kennedy and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had initially proposed a two-step plan: accept Democrats’ offer to fund all DHS agencies except Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), then pass a separate reconciliation bill to fully fund ICE using only Republican votes.

President Donald Trump rejected that approach, signaling he would veto any deal with Democrats. “The president said no deals, none, zero, zilch, nada with the Democrats,” Kennedy stated.

Trump had pushed to combine DHS funding with passage of the SAVE America Act, which requires proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration and photo ID to vote. He insisted Republicans make no agreement on DHS funding until Democrats approve the voter-integrity bill, calling it “far more important” than the funding impasse.

Kennedy’s backup “Plan B” funds the entire DHS—including ICE, Secret Service, U.S. Coast Guard, FEMA, TSA, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency—through budget reconciliation. The process requires only a simple majority of Republican votes and bypasses Democrats entirely.

“We can pay for it easily” with offsets from alleged fraud in Minnesota programs and unspent Biden-era climate initiatives, Kennedy said. “Let’s just do the whole damn thing through reconciliation. We don’t need a single Democratic vote.”

The move follows Republicans’ successful use of reconciliation to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which fully funded ICE operations. Kennedy noted the new approach may delay pay for some federal workers, including TSA employees, but pledged to stay in Washington until resolved.

“I’ll stay as long as it takes to get it done,” Kennedy said. “Government is supposed to create order, not disorder.”