Schumer, Dems hold firm on DHS funding despite Noem's bombshell ousting

By Fox News · Fox News

Senate Democrats again blocked Republicans’ attempt to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as background negotiations appear to have fizzled out. It came just minutes after Kristi Noem , the former South Dakota congresswoman and governor who led President Donald Trump’s DHS in his second term, was ousted from her position on Thursday. The agency has been shuttered for nearly three weeks, and Democrats’ latest rejection of a full-year funding bill likely ensures that the closure extends into a fourth week. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus remained dug in on their position that unless the White House caters to their list of reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), they wouldn’t play ball. OPERATION EPIC FURY SURVIVES SENATE CHALLENGE AS REPUBLICANS CLOSE RANKS BEHIND TRUMP "It's very easy for them to get all of this funded — simply agree to our common-sense proposals on ICE and Border Patrol," Schumer said before the vote. "These are proposals. What we've asked for is what every police force does in terms of our negotiations. Look, we're still far apart, but we're still negotiating and exchanging paper back and forth." The vote came moments after Trump announced he would nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to replace Noem as the new DHS chief, following reports that Trump was "furious" with her performance in bicameral Judiciary Committee hearings this week. TRUMP SAYS 'LOSERS' SCHUMER, DEMS WOULD HAVE CRITICIZED ANY DECISION HE MADE ON IRAN Meanwhile, Trump's Operation Epic Fury has taken center stage in the upper chamber, with a Democratic push to rein in his war authorities in the Middle East hitting a red wall of Republican resistance on Wednesday. And as the strikes continue, it has spurred calls from Senate Republicans to fund the agency as concerns over retaliation on American soil increase. "Look, I'm not going to vote to fund Ice and let them detain, brutalize, shoot, or kill more American citizens j…