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Senate fails to advance DHS funding bill for 5th time, with no deal in sight

March 20, 2026 / 3:51 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Senate on Friday again failed to move forward with legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security, extending the shutdown that has snarled air travel around the country.

In a 47 to 37 vote, the legislation failed to reach the 60-vote threshold it needed to advance. Sixteen senators did not vote. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted with Republicans.

Friday’s vote marks the fifth time since Feb. 12 that the Senate has attempted to advance a House-passed bill that would fund the department through September. DHS has been shut down since Feb. 14. Democrats are insisting on reforms to immigration enforcement practices to fully reopen the department.

A bipartisan group of senators met with border czar Tom Homan on Thursday, in what Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama said was the first time both sides have met in six weeks. Leaving the meeting, Britt said “today was not negotiation, it was conversation.”

Another meeting with Homan was expected later Friday, according to Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

“This can’t continue,” the South Dakota Republican told reporters, adding that both sides “have now had an opportunity to kind of sharpen their pencils.”

“I think we’re going to know today whether we’re actually serious about it,” Thune said.

Earlier this week, Senate Democrats sent the White House their latest counteroffer. In a letter Tuesday to Republican senators involved in funding discussions, the White House said it had made several proposals to Democrats in its previous counteroffer. The offer included expanded use of body cameras, limiting civil immigration enforcement activities at schools and hospitals and requiring officers to wear visible identification. But Democrats have dismissed the offer, saying the White House has refused to budge on masks and warrants.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Friday that negotiations on immigration enforcement “still have a way to go,” citing “deep disagreements.”

The effects of the shutdown have been most apparent at airports across the U.S. Travelers are facing long lines, with unpaid Transportation Security Administration officers calling off work or quitting altogether. One TSA official warned this week that some airports might need to be shut down if the situation is not resolved soon.

Republicans have blocked Democrats’ repeated attempts to pass funding for other agencies under the DHS umbrella, except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Meanwhile, Democrats have shut down efforts by Republicans to approve temporary funding for all of DHS.

Schumer said that lawmakers would have another chance to fund TSA on Saturday, when a procedural vote on legislation funding the individual agency is expected.

“The chaos at TSA is reaching a boiling point. We need to reopen it as quickly as possible,” Schumer said in a floor speech Friday.

Alan He and Caitlin Huey-Burns contributed to this report.

An alliance like no other? Inside President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s relationship | CNN Politics

Published 1:39 PM EDT, Fri March 20, 2026 / CNN

Dan Senor, host of the ‘Call Me Back’ podcast parses Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement where he said “America is the leader” in the war in Iran, while Israel is the ally after Israel attacked an Iranian gas field. “Even Reagan and Thatcher had disagreements from time to time. The test of the relationship is not about whether or not two democratic leaders in wartime have disagreements, it’s about how they deal with those disagreements.”

7:28 • Source: CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/20/politics/video/inside-politics-dan-senor

美国或向中东增派数千名士兵

2026年3月20日 23:30 / 联合早报

美国中央司令部3月18日发布的照片显示，隶属于第31战斗攻击机中队的F/A-18E“超级大黄蜂”战斗机，3月15日在世界上最大航空母舰福特号的飞行甲板上滑行。 （法新社）

三名美国官员告诉路透社，美国军方正在向中东增派数千名海军陆战队员和水兵。

此次部署包括两栖攻击舰拳师号（USS Boxer）及其所属的海军陆战队远征部队（Marine Expeditionary Unit）和随行军舰。此前路透社报道，美国总统特朗普的政府正在考虑向中东增派数千名美军，以加强其在中东的军事行动。

特朗普星期四（3月19日）对记者说，他不会向“任何地方”派遣军队，但如果真的要这样做，他也不会告诉记者。

这些要求匿名的消息人士没有透露增派部队的具体任务。但其中一名官员说，这些部队将比原计划提前约三周从美国西海岸出发。

白宫和五角大楼尚未对此报道置评。

中东战局使日美峰会变调 特朗普向高市施压吁日派兵为霍尔木兹护航 | 联合早报

[符祝慧]东京特派员
发布/2026年3月20日 23:44

中东局势高度紧张之际，美国总统特朗普与日本首相高市早苗在华盛顿召开峰会。《朝日新闻》引述消息人士透露，特朗普在闭门会议上向高市施压，吁日本派遣自卫队为霍尔木兹海峡护航“做出贡献”。

高市自去年10月就任首相以来首次访美，美国时间星期四（3月19日）到白宫会见特朗普。

日媒分析，高市此行原本是为了在特朗普原定本月底访华前与他协调日本对华政策；然而伊朗战事打乱了原有节奏，特朗普推迟访华，日美峰会也走向“意料之外”的方向，中东局势意外成了峰会的主要议题。

《朝日新闻》星期五（3月20日）报道，在伊朗问题上，高市表明“发展核武器不可接受”，并促伊朗停止攻击邻国和途经霍尔木兹海峡的船只。

她也表明，从能源稳定供应的角度来看，确保霍尔木兹海峡航行安全至关重要，日本将在法律框架内“继续尽己所能”。

关于“为霍尔木兹海峡护航”的行动，特朗普在进入正式会谈前的记者会上就频频暗示“希望日本挺身而出，也理应挺身而出”。

他还将日本与欧洲盟友作比较，称北约不愿在霍尔木兹海峡问题上与美国合作；“而日本超过90%的石油运输都经过霍尔木兹海峡，与北约的情况不一样，我相信日本会履行职责。”

《日经新闻》解读，特朗普的一番话凸显，即便高市未承诺具体行动，但美方相信，“日本的行动是积极的”。

《朝日新闻》则分析，要日本部署自卫队维护霍尔木兹海峡航行安全，除了受限于国内宪法，从战略角度看，日本目前并未有足够资源这么做；这是因为美国如今受困中东战局，中国在台湾海峡的军事活动却日益加剧，日本料难放松周边安全防线，分身兼顾霍尔木兹海峡。

为了应对中东局势引发的能源危机，日美发表的联合文件显示，日本将对美启动一项400亿美元（512亿7300万新元）的核能投资项目，包括在美国境内建设新一代小型模块化反应堆（SMR）和两座天然气发电厂，总投资额超过11万亿日元（886亿新元）。

此外，日美也正合作开展一个包括原油基础设施的项目，以增加美国对日本的原油出口；政府官员称，这将增加美国北部阿拉斯加的原油产量。

日美承诺联合研发生产导弹 加强威慑应对中朝

就中日关系，特朗普在峰会前面对记者提问是否会在习特会上提及中日关系时，转而问高市：“你和中国的关系怎么样了？”

对此，高市回应：“日本由始至终对与中国对话持开放态度，我们保持对话渠道畅通，并以冷静审慎的方式应对。”

两人过后并未公开是否在峰会上就对华政策进行讨论，但高市在峰会后独自召开的日媒记者会上强调，面对日益严峻的国际局势，强大的日美同盟对维护日本的利益至关重要。

两位领导人确认了日美两国在对华和对朝问题上持续密切合作，承诺通过联合研发并生产导弹，加强日美威慑和应对能力。

特朗普将袭击伊朗比作日本偷袭珍珠港

这是高市就任首相后第二次与特朗普会晤，上一次是去年10月特朗普出席在韩国举行的亚太经合会议前夕，受到高市热情款待。

这次转场白宫，两人也充分互动。但特朗普峰在峰会前记者会上的一段出其不意的回应，却叫高市不知所措。

面对日本记者提问：“袭击伊朗，为何没事先通知日本等盟友？”特朗普回应道：“谁能比日本更懂得出其不意的突袭？你们偷袭珍珠港怎么也没跟美国说？你们可比我们更相信突袭。”

特朗普翻出“日本偷袭珍珠港”的历史旧账为自己发动伊朗战争找下台阶，让一旁的高市目瞪口呆、一脸尴尬。

[日本][日美首脑][高市早苗][特朗普][中东]

[上一篇 美国或向中东增派数千名士兵][下一篇 特朗普称北约为“懦夫” 北约驻伊拉克特派团撤离]

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Thune accuses Dems of ‘running scared’ from their base as shutdown rages on | Fox News

By Alex Miller | Fox News
Published March 20, 2026 11:00am EDT

FIRST ON FOX: The top Senate Republican argued that while Senate Democrats may be the ones voting against reopening the government, they’re not the ones calling the shots.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital in an interview that as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown continues, it’s Democrats’ voters who are pushing them to continue blocking funding for the agency.

“The Democrats up here on the Hill are so afraid of their far-left base,” Thune said. “And I think the far-left base, their demand right now, is defund ICE, defund law enforcement, which is not, by any stretch, a reasonable position.”

The agency has been shut down for 35 days, putting the latest closure into record-breaking territory. Senate Democrats have, so far, blocked four attempts to reopen the agency over demands for stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and how agents operate in the field.

THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that it was Democrats’ far-left base that was preventing them from reopening DHS.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Negotiations had ground to a halt for several weeks, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus staying quiet on the latest offer from the White House.

That communication breakdown began to thaw this week when Democrats responded with an offer the White House dubbed unserious. And signs of a deal further improved on Thursday when a handful of Democratic negotiators sat down for the first time with Senate Republicans and border czar Tom Homan.

It also comes as lines at airports stretch for several blocks as workers go unpaid, and concerns of terrorist attacks are at a fever pitch in the wake of the Iran war. Thune will again put a bill to reopen the agency on the floor on Friday, and Democrats are again expected to block it.

REPUBLICANS SIGNAL NO RETREAT ON SAVE ACT AS MARATHON SENATE DEBATE KICKS OFF

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Senate Democrats are trying to fund everything at DHS except for immigration operations.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

Still, Thune said that the meeting “suggested even more movement” toward breaking the funding logjam but remained wary of Democrats actually wanting to make a deal to end the shutdown.

He also noted that until Thursday, Democrats had consistently rejected Republicans’ offers to get into a room and hash it out, and he contended that it was the White House making their offers to Democrats public that likely spurred the latest confab.

“My impression is, at least up until now, that the edict has gone out from the paternalistic Democrat fathers that none of their children should be talking to Republicans about how to solve this problem in a way that gets them actual reforms in place,” Thune said, “and funds an important department that has a number of agencies that are really critical, not only to national security, but to emergency management and other things.”

DEMS UNMOVED AS WHITE HOUSE REVEALS DHS CONCESSIONS IN SHUTDOWN BATTLE

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Democrats’ shutdown demands keep growing and growing.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

“So it seems to me, at least they are — these guys — they are running scared,” he continued. “They, I think, believe they benefit politically from this.”

Several Democrats left the meeting with Homan and Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., declining to comment on the discussion. When asked if lawmakers were any closer to a deal, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said, “No.”

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Still, Republicans were hopeful that there would soon be a breakthrough to the impasse.

“Unfortunately, the Democrats’ list of demands keeps growing and growing, and that makes it difficult,” Collins said. “But the group that was in there is operating in good faith, and I hope we’ll get together again very soon.”

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

学者：特朗普若实现年内访华就是“好兆头

特朗普称北约为“懦夫” 北约驻伊拉克特派团撤离 | 联合早报

发布/2026年3月20日 23:47

3月17日，在巴格达戒备森严的“绿区”内，美国大使馆总部外在无人机和火箭弹袭击后发生火灾。 （法新社）

美国总统特朗普抨击美国的北大西洋公约组织盟国为“懦夫”，指他们没有理会他要求提供军事援助，以控制霍尔木兹海峡航道。

特朗普星期五（3月20日）在社交媒体真相社交上发帖称：“懦夫，我们会记住你们的！”

法新社引述他说，美国的盟国“不想帮忙打通霍尔木兹海峡，这明明只是一个简单的军事行动，却成了油价高企的唯一原因。对他们来说，这轻而易举，风险也微乎其微。”

路透社引述他说：“没有美国，北约就是一只纸老虎！”

北约驻伊拉克特派团暂时撤离

另据一名伊拉克高级安全消息人士告诉伊拉克国家通讯社，由于地区紧张局势和冲突，北约已开始从伊拉克撤离人员。

消息人士补充说，北约特派团是非战斗性质的顾问特派团，一旦战争结束、伊拉克安全局势稳定，他们将返回伊拉克。

北约发言人哈特告诉法新社：“我们正在调整北约驻伊拉克特派团的部署。”出于安全考虑，她拒绝透露细节。她在声明中说，北约正就此事“与盟国和伙伴国密切协调”。

北约驻伊拉克特派团总部设在巴格达绿区一处伊拉克军事基地，靠近美国大使馆。自战争爆发以来，美国大使馆已多次遭到袭击。

据网站介绍，特派团成立于2018年，目前有数百名来自盟国和伙伴国奥地利和澳大利亚的人员。

Trump releases AI policy to pre-empt state rules | Reuters

March 20, 2026 12:28 PM UTC / Reuters

AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo [Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab]

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WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) – The White House released an artificial intelligence policy ​on Friday that aims to pre-empt state rules, ensure protections for children ‌and shield communities from prohibitive energy costs.

The Trump administration has been pushing for a single legislative framework that can be applied uniformly across the country, rather than leaving states to form their ​own plans.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

U.S. President Donald Trump in December said he would withhold federal broadband ​funding from states whose laws to regulate artificial intelligence are judged ⁠by his administration to be holding back American dominance in the technology.

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The AI industry ​has been a powerful profit driver for the tech sector in recent years, propelling ​chipmaker Nvidia to become the world’s largest company, while tech behemoths Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft pour billions of dollars into the burgeoning sector.

The White House said it looked forward to working ​with Congress to turn the framework into legislation.

“We need one national AI framework, not ​a 50-state patchwork,” Michael Kratsios, science and technology adviser to Trump, told The Daily Signal. “And I ‌think ⁠one of the key provisions of it that will make it all work and come together is really focusing on the bipartisan consensus around protecting America’s children.”

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Protections in the White House framework include giving parents control of accounts and devices to protect their ​children’s privacy and suggests ​features to combat ⁠potential sexual exploitation or self-harm.

The framework calls on Congress to streamline permitting so that electricity-gobbling data centers can generate their own ​power on site. It wants to increase the federal government’s ability ​to fight ⁠AI-generated scams and national security concerns.

The plan calls for removing barriers to innovation, accelerating AI deployment across business sectors and making it easier to build top-grade AI systems, with ⁠a goal ​of ensuring global AI dominance.

The framework includes provisions ​on intellectual property rights, preventing censorship and protecting free speech and developing an AI-proficient workforce by educating Americans.

Reporting ​by Katharine Jackson and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Katharine Jackson, Chizu Nomiyama and Hugh Lawson

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Two former FBI agents who helped investigate efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election sued Thursday to challenge their abrupt firings from the bureau, arguing that their terminations were “solely” due to their involvement in the probe.

The two agents, identified only as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, accused FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi of politically retaliating against them for their work in the 2020 election case, known internally as “Arctic Frost,” despite having played brief and largely administrative roles in the investigation.

The lawsuit argues that the firings were a violation of FBI policy as well as the agents’ rights under the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution. Both former agents are seeking reinstatement to the bureau, and a declaration from the court that their terminations were unlawful.

“Political support for President Trump is not a legal or appropriate requirement for the effective performance of plaintiffs’ respective roles within the F.B.I.,” the lawsuit states. “Accordingly, perceived lack of political support for President Trump is an impermissible basis for termination of plaintiffs’ F.B.I. employment.”

According to the lawsuit, the two agents were fired last fall, within a five-day period, and shortly after, unredacted internal documents related to the Arctic Frost probe were shared with members of Congress.

FBI Director Kash Patel proceeded to “summarily” fire both agents in late October and early November, the lawsuit says, “without evidence,” and without “internal investigation, notice, or hearing” to precede their terminations.

Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on their removals, or the new lawsuit. During House testimony Thursday, however, FBI Director Kash Patel dismissed criticism raised by Democrats about terminations within the bureau.

“There’s 36,000 people employed at this FBI,” Patel told lawmakers.

“And I reject the notion wholeheartedly that the termination of those that were weaponizing law enforcement are the only ones that can do the mission,” he added.

The lawsuit argues that the terminations run afoul of FBI policy, which states that non-probationary special agents may be removed only for cause, such as misconduct, national security concerns, or an inability to perform the essential duties or responsibilities of their roles. Both had been lauded for their work at the bureau, it notes, and had received “exemplary” performance reviews and other outside recognition.

“In Arctic Frost, as in all other investigations to which they were assigned, Plaintiffs fully adhered to DOJ policies and procedures, including applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and executed their law enforcement duties without bias or political motives,” they said in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Lawyers for the agents also argued the removals break with Patel’s remarks last year during his Senate confirmation hearing, in which he vowed that agents would not be fired based on case assignments, and stressed that personnel decisions “should be based on performance and adherence to the law.”

The lawsuit adds to a growing list of unlawful termination lawsuits filed by ex-FBI agents in recent months, including former agents who have argued they were removed solely for their perceived political views, or for their involvement in certain politically sensitive investigations.

Former Department of Justice officials have cited concerns that the probe or any retaliatory measures carried out as a result could have a chilling effect on the work of the FBI, including its more than 52 separate field offices.

The FBI Agents’ Association, or FBIAA, a voluntary agents’ group that represents more than 14,000 active and former special agents, sharply criticized the removals of the two special agents, saying in a statement released at the time that Patel “has disregarded the law and launched a campaign of erratic and arbitrary retribution.”

“An Agent simply being assigned to an investigation and conducting it appropriately within the law should never be grounds for termination,” the group said.

“FBI Agents deal in facts, and we urge Director Patel to do the same.”