'We didn't cave': Thune highlights Schumer, Dems' losses in DHS funding deal

By Fox News · Fox News

As a Homeland Security shutdown drags on, the top Senate Republican says Democrats are getting "zero" of the reforms they demanded. Congressional Democrats have taken victory laps, viewing the outcome as a key win in their push for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They have also accused congressional Republicans of caving to their demands. While the Senate’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deal includes funding for ICE and much of CBP, it does not include the structural reforms Democrats spent the last 48 days pushing. SENATE PASSES BILL TO FUND MOST OF DHS AFTER HOUSE GOP CAVES When asked whether Republicans gave in, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News' "America's Newsroom," "No, we didn’t cave." "I mean, ultimately, what the Democrats did, you could say ... this was all about ‘reforms,’ restrictions on ICE and CBP agents and what they could or couldn’t do," Thune said. "They got none of that. They got zero of the reforms they were advocating for." Thune was responding to accusations from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who argued that "House Republicans caved" after backing down from their push for a 60-day funding extension for the agency. HOUSE CONSERVATIVES RAGE AGAINST SENATE DHS SHUTDOWN DEAL Schumer argued that divisions in the GOP "derailed a bipartisan agreement" and said Democrats were clear in their objectives to "fund critical security, protect Americans, and provide no blank check for reckless ICE and Border Patrol enforcement." "We were united, held the line, and refused to let Republican chaos win," Schumer said. Thune countered, "In the end, this was all about their left-wing base demanding that no funding be provided." HOUSE GOP RAMS THROUGH NEW DHS FUNDING PLAN WITH SHUTDOWN FAR FROM OVER "The good news for us is we saw this coming, and we pre-funded this last summer, so ICE and CBP are funded through the end of the fiscal year. Then we’ll add to…