{"id":2585299,"date":"2026-03-30T12:22:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T16:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-faces-real-problem-as-dhs-shutdown-prolongs-bob-cusack\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T12:24:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T16:24:21","slug":"gop-faces-real-problem-as-dhs-shutdown-prolongs-bob-cusack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-faces-real-problem-as-dhs-shutdown-prolongs-bob-cusack\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP faces &#8216;real problem&#8217; as DHS shutdown prolongs: Bob Cusack"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-faces-real-problem-as-dhs-shutdown-prolongs-bob-cusack%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2585299&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Washington examiner reports that there is no easy path to ending the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nancy-pelosi-blames-president-trump-climate-change-for-migrant-surge\/\" title=\"Nancy Pelosi ...s ... Trump, \u2018climate change\u2019 for migrant surge\">partial government shutdown<\/a> over the Department of Homeland Security, as Republicans in the House and Senate push differing funding approaches. The Senate has approved a funding deal that excludes money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement,which House Republicans promptly rejected,favoring an eight-week,<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >short-term bill<\/a> that funds all of DHS.The standoff unfolds amid mixed signals from the White House and payroll complications tied to President Trump\u2019s actions, including an executive order that pays TSA workers while others go unpaid. Bob Cusack notes that Trump\u2019s position has been fluid and could influence negotiations, even as Senate and House leaders debate the best route forward.Politically, Democrats appear more united but lack a clear agenda, while Republicans risk taking the blame in the run-up to the midterms, with Trump\u2019s polling down among independents. Analysts view this as a real problem for Republicans as the shutdown drags into spring.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">GOP faces &lsquo;real problem&rsquo; as DHS shutdown prolongs before midterm elections: Bob Cusack<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2545408\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><em>Washington Examiner<\/em> Executive Editor <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/bcusack\/\">Bob Cusack<\/a> said he doesn&rsquo;t see an &ldquo;easy compromise&rdquo; as congressional Republicans continue to butt heads on how to end the partial <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/government-shutdown\/\">government shutdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans in both the House and the Senate have two different proposals for how to fund the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-homeland-security\/\">Department of Homeland Security<\/a> and end its weekslong shutdown. The Senate passed a deal that excluded money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which was <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4506889\/mike-johnson-splits-thune-eight-week-dhs-funding-bill\/\">promptly rejected by House Republicans<\/a>, who plan to advance an eight-week, short-term bill that funds all of DHS instead.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4508866\/lankford-democrats-absurd-demand-ice-dhs\/\">Lankford says Democrats made &#8216;absurd&#8217; demand for no ICE presence at polls in DHS reform<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4508850\/sen-ron-johnson-says-democrats-use-two-martyrs-killed-by-feds-to-defund-police\/\">Sen. Ron Johnson says Democrats use &#8216;two martyrs&#8217; killed by feds to defund police<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4508455\/bill-maher-press-elissa-slotkin-democratic-stand-against-iran-war\/\">Bill Maher presses Elissa Slotkin over Democratic stand against Iran war<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Cusack said this showdown, and the Republican Party&rsquo;s disagreement on how to resolve it, underscores a &ldquo;real problem&rdquo; as the Senate breaks for two weeks for spring vacation. He added that the shutdown is in &ldquo;uncharted waters&rdquo; <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">because of President&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump&rsquo;s<\/a>&nbsp;executive order to pay <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tsa\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1557\">Transportation Security Administration<\/a> workers, as it is unclear how long these payments will last. Border Czar Tom Homan has highlighted that<\/span> others aren&rsquo;t getting paid.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So this is a real problem for Republicans. They control the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congress\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"31\">Congress<\/a>, so even though [House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA)] was criticizing [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)], it was [Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD)] who controls the Senate floor,&rdquo; Cusack said on C-Span&rsquo;s <em>Washington Journal<\/em>. &ldquo;They just have very different views of how to move forward, and I don&rsquo;t see an easy compromise happening.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 640px; max-height: 360px; min-width: 320px; min-height: 180px; overflow: hidden;\">\n<div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; padding-top: 56.25%;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/share.grabien.com\/share?id=3453350&amp;userid=11311&amp;usertype=user&amp;loginid=9421&amp;playercolor=%23000000&amp;playersize=auto&amp;code=7257a5747edcf4d269911d0e5cafb419\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0px;\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;The interesting element here is President Trump, because President Trump&lsquo;s White House reportedly signaled that they were OK with the Senate bill, but when Johnson contacted him and called the president, the president was saying, &lsquo;OK, you don&lsquo;t want to pass that bill? That&rsquo;s fine by me,&rsquo; and here we are,&rdquo; Cusack said.<\/p>\n<p>Cusack added that this shutdown isn&rsquo;t coming &ldquo;at a good time&rdquo; for Republicans, as Trump faces bad polling numbers, especially among independent voters. He said Republicans are facing a &ldquo;tough election&rdquo; in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\">the midterm elections<\/a>, and the party is likely to get &ldquo;the majority of the blame&rdquo; from this shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>For Democrats, Cusack said the party lost the prior shutdown battle last November, and Schumer received &ldquo;a lot of heat&rdquo; for his handling of it. However, the party is &ldquo;fairly united&rdquo; on the current shutdown fight.<\/p>\n<p>Cusack cited that <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4499116\/thune-pleads-with-voters-patience-rising-gas-prices-iran-war\/\">Thune asked for &ldquo;patience&rdquo;<\/a> from the public in an interview with the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3368878\/jd-vance-tariffs-economy-fox-news\/\">a line frequently used<\/a> by the Trump administration as it seeks to deliver on affordability and the Iran conflict. However, &ldquo;the momentum&rdquo; is with the Democratic Party despite having an unclear agenda, though Cusack said a party doesn&rsquo;t need one in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysis-joe-bidens-net-approvals-tank-in-battleground-states\/\" title=\"Analysis: Joe Biden&#039;s Net Approvals Tank in Battleground States\">midterm election cycle<\/a> and &ldquo;just have to be the opposition party.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/patriotism-unity\/4508545\/another-shutdown-another-clown-show-in-congress\/\"><strong>RESTORING AMERICA: ANOTHER SHUTDOWN, ANOTHER CLOWN SHOW IN CONGRESS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) suggested <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4508953\/tim-burchett-calls-for-new-senate-leadership-after-thune-ignores-save-america-act\/\">the Senate get &ldquo;new leadership&rdquo;<\/a> when asked about the Senate&rsquo;s deal to reopen DHS, and said Thune &ldquo;ignores&rdquo; the SAVE America Act that Trump wants passed. He also voiced approval for TMZ for releasing pictures of lawmakers vacationing on spring recess, saying lawmakers need to &ldquo;get back to work&rdquo; as the shutdown continues.<\/p>\n<p><em>Washington Examiner<\/em> investigations editor Sarah Bedford said the Democratic Party <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4504362\/democrats-blame-dhs-shutdown-sarah-bedford\/\">isn&rsquo;t behaving as if it&rsquo;s losing<\/a> this shutdown fight. She added that Schumer isn&rsquo;t feeling pressure to accept &ldquo;what might be considered&rdquo; by the Democratic base a bad deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paraphrase:<br \/>\n&#8211; Republicans are split over how to end the DHS shutdown, with the House and Senate offering different funding approaches. The Senate backed a bill that funds DHS but leaves ICE out, which House Republicans rejected in favor of an eight-week stopgap that covers all of DHS. This intra-party disagreement, coming as the Senate breaks for spring recess, signals a real problem for Republicans who control Congress. The situation is complicated by Trump-era moves to pay TSA workers, creating uncertainty about how long such payments will continue. Some GOP voices push for new leadership or a different negotiating approach, while Democrats appear more united this time and seem ready to own the opposition, even if their broader plan remains unclear. The dynamic also wears on Trump\u2019s political standing, especially with independents, and risks the midterm elections for the party in power. A few Republican lawmakers criticize the process or call out pauses in leadership, and observers note Democrats aren\u2019t acting like they\u2019re losing the fight.<\/p>\n<p>55-character headline:<br \/>\nGOP faces problem as DHS shutdown drags on midterms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2632,"featured_media":2585300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26086689139732-e1774878607554.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[73687,7492,6203,71961,5894],"class_list":["post-2585299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-bob-cusack-2","tag-dhs","tag-gop","tag-government-shutdown-2","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26086689139732-e1774878607554.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2585299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2632"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2585299"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2585299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2585303,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2585299\/revisions\/2585303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2585300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2585299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2585299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2585299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}