Discussions between the White House and Democratic leaders on funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have hit a wall as administration officials publicly slammed the minority party for refusing to make concessions.
Ever since Democrats sent the White House legislative text of their demands to reform how the administration carries out immigration enforcement on Feb. 7, negotiators have largely kept mum the details of the proposals and counterproposals that followed in the hopes of reaching an agreement.
That began to change Tuesday when the White House slammed Democrats in a series of public comments, accusing them of not being willing to make concessions as the funding impasse nears a full week.
"They're saying right now, OK, we're going to close DHS until you basically stop enforcing immigration law in this country. We're not going to do that," White House deputy chief of staff James Blair said in a TV appearance Tuesday.
"This is just the Democrats' grandstanding," he added.
Two GOP sources familiar with negotiations told The Hill that Democratic negotiators largely "recycled" their first proposal in their latest offer Monday night.
That initial proposal featured 10 demands for immigration enforcement, including three main pieces considered bright red lines for Republicans: a tightening of warrant requirements, unmasking agents who engage in field operations and an end to roving patrols.
The latest offer also prompted the White House to release a statement saying the two "parties are still pretty far apart," and press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday labeled the Democratic offer as "unserious" -- further dampening the chances of a deal.
Details of the specific negotiations and concessions have remained sparse, with lawmakers and aides pointing to the relative quiet as a sign that serious negotiating was taking place.
The state of talks has frustrated Senate Republicans, who believe the shutdown will last at least through President Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday. They also believe the address to Congress was a driving force for Democrats to insist on a two-week continuing resolution for DHS that expired on Feb. 13.
"[Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.)] not wanting to engage. Their whole game here is political theater. This is about them wanting to keep it shut down through the State of the Union," said Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), a top Senate GOP leadership ally, who added talks are "not going great" at present.
"It's a sum of nothing for them to keep it shut down," Mullin continued, noting the most recent paycheck for DHS workers went out Friday, and they aren't set to get paid again until late next week. "I think it's worked out after the State of the Union."
Democrats, for their part, believe they have the political wind at their backs after the public outcry over the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of immigration agents in Minneapolis -- and they are doubling down on their demands.
Polling appears to back them up. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday, only 38 percent of respondents said they approve of President Trump's immigration crackdown, with 55 percent disapproving. These are the worst numbers recorded by the survey since Trump's return to office last January.
"Democrats have been clear for weeks about the reforms needed to rein in ICE and stop the violence," spokespeople for Schumer, the lead negotiator for the party, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said. "We've continued working through language and additional issues to make progress, but Republicans have largely ignored the core guardrails Americans are demanding."
"Dems are negotiating in good faith; it's time for Republicans to do the same," they added.
Still, the White House is showing no signs of caving.
Even as Democrats believe they have the political edge, the White House can lean on the fact that the impasse is having little impact on immigration operations given the billions of dollars in funds that were passed to boost border efforts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
This is giving Republicans little incentive to cave on a deal while allowing them to make the political argument that Democrats are hampering agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard.
Republicans say the White House has made notable concessions to Democrats on top of key executive maneuvers -- including the end of enhanced operations in Minneapolis and the expansion of body cameras for agents in the field -- that represent a show of good-faith negotiations.
There is also a question of how much further Republicans can go, having already made deals in the initial full-year DHS measure -- which the Pretti shooting scuttled -- to boost funding for body cameras, de-escalation measures and the DHS inspector general's office.
"I don't think [Democrats] are going to change tact until they feel political winds shifting," one senior Senate GOP aide said. "Between SOTU and them reading polls, they're waiting for something to change."
For now, Democrats are showing no signs of letting up.
"It is our view that immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, it should be just, and it should be humane," Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol on Wednesday. "That's not what's happening right now in the United States of America, and that's why ICE needs to be reformed in a dramatic, bold, meaningful and transformational manner."
"And if that doesn't happen, the DHS funding bill will not move forward," he added.