What Senate Democrats Won—and Lost—in the Shutdown Deal

Senate Democrats approved a deal early Friday morning that would fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, ensuring that Transportation Security Administration workers would get their long-awaited paychecks but forfeiting proposed reforms to immigration enforcement.

Senate Democrats and Republicans approved legislation that would fund most DHS agencies except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. The bill would restore funding to TSA, which has been hemorrhaging employees as paycheck after paycheck has gone unpaid, causing severe disruptions at airports across the country.

However, Democrats failed to secure key reforms to immigration enforcement, including banning ICE agents from wearing masks and requiring them to obtain judicial warrants in order to perform searches.

“That ship has sailed, and they kind of kissed that opportunity goodbye,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said.

He claimed that Democrats were more interested in having an issue to run on in the midterm elections rather than passing reforms.

“We could be standing here now passing a funding bill with a list of reforms, if Democrats had made the smallest effort to actually reach an agreement,” Thune said. “But they didn’t.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was proud of the Democrats for sticking together. “My caucus didn’t budge,” he said, adding that Democrats would “fight hard for reforms” and “there will be opportunities.”

It’s not clear whether those opportunities will arise before the midterm elections.

In the meantime, Republicans are planning to pass funding for ICE and Border Patrol as part of budget reconciliation, which will require a simple majority rather than the 60 votes this legislation required.

Unlawful ICE arrests at immigration courts will continue across the country, despite the Department of Justice admitting that federal agents have no such authority to make them.

In a Tuesday letter to U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel of New York City, the DOJ conceded that a 2025 Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo used to justify the arrests of hundreds of immigrants appearing in immigration court “does not and has never applied to civil immigration enforcement actions in or near immigration court.” 

Despite the stunning concession, the Department of Homeland Security doesn’t seem to care. It will continue to arrest immigrants showing up for their hearings, the DHS said in a statement Thursday.

“There is no change in policy. We will continue to arrest illegal aliens at immigration courts following their proceedings. It is common sense to take them into custody following the completion of their removal proceedings,” the statement reads. 

“Nothing prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them,” it concludes. Actually, it does. The DOJ itself admitted the memo does not mean ICE has free rein to arrest whoever it wants, wherever it wants. 

The disclosure was part of a federal court case brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union that challenges ICE’s nefarious arrests of immigrants at Manhattan’s immigration court, which has seen the most arrests of any major city in America. Thousands more have been unlawfully arrested at courthouses across the country. 

The DOJ apologized in a letter to Castel, and blamed the mistake on ICE. “We deeply regret that this error has come to light at this late stage, after the parties have expended significant resources and time to litigate this case and this Court has carefully considered Plaintiffs’ challenge to the 2025 ICE Guidance,” the letter reads.

It doesn’t really matter whose fault it was, especially as it seems ICE will continue snatching immigrants trying to comply with the federal system whether it’s authorized or not.   

President Trump cares more about getting a statue of himself built in Venezuela than he does about Americans getting cheaper gas prices.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum planted the absurd inkling in Trump’s easily flattered head during a Thursday Cabinet meeting at the White House.

“Back on Venezuela—[Energy Secretary] Chris [Wright] … had a chance to be there,” Burgum said. “I literally think they’re gonna put up a statue of President Trump … and it’s not a political statement, it’s—”

“I actually think that would be a great honor,” Trump interrupted.

“It’s like they view President Trump like Simon Buller,” Burgum continued, perhaps referring to Simón Bolívar, who led a massive chunk of South America into independence from Spain. “He’s the liberator of a country, and this is a country where they, you know they love American baseball, you look on the street, they’re wearing NBA jerseys.”

“Their production on oil production is climbing towards 50 percent increase just in the three months we’ve been here. That flows to American refineries on the Gulf Coast, lowering the price of gas in America, so it’s a—” Burgum continued before Trump cut in.

“Forget that. When are they gonna do the statue? To hell with the other thing,” Trump said as the room erupted in laughter. While it came off as a joke at the moment, a sitting president suggesting that the country whose president he kidnapped and jailed build a statue of him is tasteless in any context.

Trump’s dismissal of oil and gas prices—perhaps the most important issue to the average American—is emblematic of his entire second tenure as president. Chest pounding, bravado, and imperialism abroad while the Americans he promised to fight for flail at home.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche advocated for sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling places, in the clearest proof yet that the Trump administration plans to use the overfunded and undertrained police force to suppress the vote.

Blanche made the comments in a speech at the popular conservative conference CPAC on Thursday. “Why is there objection to sending ICE officers to polling places?” he said. “Illegals can’t vote. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Federal law prohibits government forces from patrolling poll sites unless “such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.” Nonetheless, top Trump officials have balked when asked if ICE would be deployed for the midterms.

In February, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called a question on the subject “silly” and “disingenuous” while declining to actually answer.

Other right-wing freaks—cough, Steve Bannon, cough—have been all in on the idea for some time. And as Trump’s polling numbers continue to nosedive, it would be surprising if he didn’t do everything he could for his party to remain in power. Earlier this year, the president remarked that Republicans should “nationalize the voting.”

Critics worry that the presence of ICE agents at polling stations could deter Americans from voting, even if all their documents are in order. The agency has already killed two American citizens in 2026, and detained over 170 in 2025.

The idea that noncitizens are consistently voting in American elections is a myth Trump has successfully convinced his base is true. Funnily enough, most high-profile attempts at voter fraud have come from his own supporters.

President Donald Trump’s reckless war with Iran is literally costing Americans their future by driving up mortgage rates and sapping the already dismal job market.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.38 percent this week, after steadily climbing for the past four weeks since Trump launched his military campaign in Iran, CNN Business reported Thursday. It was the largest single-week increase since Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs shocked the economy last April.

In February, mortgage rates slipped below 6 percent for the first time in three years, before the spiraling conflict in the Middle East rattled the global economy.

Mortgage rates are tied to the 10-year Treasury yield as well as concerns about inflation. Last week, the yield on a 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.39 percent, its highest rate since July. Trump’s recent contradicting statements about a potential ceasefire in Iran have only driven yields higher to 4.44 percent on Monday, threatening home sales as spring arrives. Concerns about rising inflation have only deepened as the Strait of Hormuz remains shuttered. At the same time, foreclosure rates are also increasing in another troubling sign for homeowners.

Meanwhile, financial services firm Goldman Sachs has estimated that the global oil shock will cost the United States an estimated additional 10,000 jobs per month until the end of the year—and that’s if the war ends after six weeks. As energy prices surge, consumers are expected to cut back on discretionary purchases, like travel, hospitality, and retail, and put off long-term purchases like buying a house. Currently, there aren’t many signs that the war will resolve anytime soon. This prediction comes after the U.S. gained practically no jobs in 2025, and data from February revealed a shocking spike in unemployment.

Clearly, Trump’s war is already having dire economic consequences for average Americans, and those factors won’t be easily reversed.

An hour into his Thursday Cabinet meeting, Donald Trump made a remark that should infuriate every American who has been stuck paying high prices for foreign products.

Referring to Minnesota and California, Trump said: “I spoke with Russell Vought. I said, ‘Russell, don’t send them any money.’ He said, ‘But we have a court order that we have to.’ Can you believe it? … Justice Roberts doesn’t like when I say it, but the judges are really hurting this country.”

The “court order” mentioned by Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, refers to a ruling that the Trump administration must refund companies that were taxed for shipping foreign goods into the U.S.—plus interest.

The order was handed down by a judge with the Court of International Trade, and came after the Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs Trump imposed early in his second term were unconstitutional.

Trump has previously suggested the government would not refund the companies and instead try to litigate the decision. “We’ll end up being in court for the next five years,” he said.

The amount of taxpayer money the Trump administration owes these companies increases by $700 million every month. And when the companies aren’t getting their refunds, research shows they’re passing the tariff costs on to consumers.

Yet the Trump administration continues to stall, claiming it doesn’t have the technical capabilities to process the refunds and whining, as Trump did on Thursday, about the judges making it return what is owed.

President Trump wants to turn the White House Treaty Room—traditionally reserved for ambassadors and foreign dignitaries—into a spare suite bedroom with a bathroom attached.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Trump floated his latest home improvement project on February 6 while giving a White House tour to a small group of people from the Committee for the Preservation of the White House and the Commission of Fine Arts. He wants the room used by presidents from Ulysses S. Grant to George W. Bush to be a one-bed, one-bath. It’s unclear why exactly the White House would need another guest room.

“President Trump is the builder-in-chief with an extraordinary eye for detail and design, and his bold vision will be imprinted upon the fabric of America and be felt by generations to come,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Times. “His successes will continue to give the White House the glory it deserves.”

This would be the latest in the slew of White House renovation projects that Trump has unnecessarily undertaken. He turned the Rose Garden into a concrete patio and put tacky gold flourishings throughout the White House, including the Oval Office. And of course, he has already demolished the East Wing in preparation for his true pet project, a 90,000-square-foot grand ballroom. While Trump is quick to tout his prowess as a “builder,” it becomes more and more clear that he thinks the White House is just another one of his estates.

The State Department is reallocating $1.2 billion in foreign aid funding to President Donald Trump’s war criminal–filled Board of Peace, Semafor first reported Thursday.

Officials took $1 billion from international disaster assistance, $200 million from peacekeeping operations, and $50 million from international organizations, in order to finance the president’s slush fund posing as a peace plan for Gaza. In reality, the Board of Peace has not transferred any money to Gaza (despite saying it will), nor has it disclosed how it will spend any of its funding to promote international peace. The whole thing is seemingly a farce to carry out Jared Kushner’s master plan to turn Gaza into a strip of luxury hotels.

Trump previously announced the U.S. would give $10 billion in total to the board, which he assured taxpayers is “a very small number when you look at that compared to the cost of war.” Countries seeking permanent members on the Board of Peace are required to pay $1 billion for their spot.

On Thursday, Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto introduced a bill that would take $1 billion of the Board of Peace’s funding and redirect it to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, amid skyrocketing gas prices from Trump’s war in Iran.

“Instead of giving President Trump a $1 billion blank check to fund a ‘Board of Peace’ that has offered no transparency about how it is investing its money, let’s focus on helping American families afford their monthly power bill,” Cortez Masto said in a statement.

Like many of Trump’s insane foreign policy stunts, the apparent transfer of funds was done without congressional approval. In a properly functioning government, the president actually wouldn’t be allowed to take billions of dollars in the midst of a partial government shutdown to fund an experimental pet project.

Donald Trump isn’t too happy with Vice President JD Vance’s attempts to distance himself from the president’s reckless war in Iran.

Trump has been making “snide, annoyed comments” about Vance’s and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s apparent lack of enthusiasm for his wildly unpopular military campaign in the Middle East, two anonymous sources told Zeteo.

Those who heard Trump’s remarks about Vance were reportedly surprised to hear him talk that way, as the two have been generally simpatico since Trump entered the White House.

Vance has appeared desperate to create daylight between himself and the conflict after some leakers claimed he was skeptical about the president’s war, in an apparent effort to salvage his electability for 2028. And Gabbard refused to back up the White House’s claim that Iran presented an “imminent threat” when she appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier this month. Both figures have previously expressed a distaste for American intervention in the Middle East.

Now Vance may be headed to Islamabad this weekend to help negotiate the end to the war he supposedly never wanted to start. If those talks go ahead, they will likely fail, and Vance won’t be able to hide from his involvement.

The White House insisted that the president’s relationship with Vance was “as warm as ever.”

“President Trump’s Peace through Strength foreign policy is a tried-and-true approach that keeps America safe and deters global threats,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Zeteo. “DNI Gabbard is an important member of the President’s team and her work continues to serve him and this country well.”

President Donald Trump was humiliated in a Cabinet meeting Thursday while trying to defend voting by mail in Florida’s special election earlier this week.

When asked by a reporter why he voted by mail—a process he previously referred to as “mail-in cheating” just days earlier—Trump had no coherent response.

“Because of the fact that I’m president of the United States, I did a mail-in ballot for elections that took place in Florida because I felt I should be here, instead of being in the beautiful sunshine,” he responded, claiming he was in Washington, D.C., leading up to the election and could not have voted in person.

That’s not true. The president was at his Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this month, as the reporter pointed out.

“But you were in Palm Beach, sir, the last few weekends—could you have gone in person?” she responded, swiftly dismantling any justification Trump claimed to have for voting by mail.

The president has long blasted mail-in voting as a form of mass voter fraud and a threat to democracy. Last week, he rejected his own party’s bid to end the partial government shutdown, calling on the Senate to pass the SAVE Act before making a deal. The Jim Crow–era voter suppression law would make it significantly harder to vote by mail.

According to the Palm Beach County’s Supervisor of Elections website, Trump also voted by mail in 2020.

Following the lie about his whereabouts, Trump rambled aimlessly to defend himself in trademark style.

“We have exceptions for mail-in ballots, you do know that, right?” he said, fumbling his words as he pointed to exceptions like military service, illness, disability, and “being away.” Not one of those applied to him.