Senate Republicans greenlight ICE and CBP budget blueprint after overnight vote-a-rama
U.S. Capitol (Getty/Andrey Denisyuk)
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Republicans approved early on Thursday a blueprint for their budget bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection after an all-night voting marathon.
The budget resolution, which kicks off the drafting process of a bill that Republicans said would provide billions to ICE and CBP, was approved by a vote of 50-48. It needed a simple majority of votes to be approved.
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, and Rand Paul, of Kentucky, joined with the Democrats in voting against the resolution. All other Republicans voted in favor of it.
The Senate approved the resolution at about 3:36 a.m. after a vote-a-rama that lasted approximately 6 hours.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, March 23, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, after postponing U.S. strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure citing new negotiations with Tehran, said on Monday that talks will continue and that there are “major points of agreement.”
“They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon, that’s number one,” Trump told reporters in Florida.
“That’s number one, two and three. They will never have a nuclear weapon,” the president said. “They’ve agreed to that,” he added.
According to Iranian state media, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Qalibaf said “no talks with the U.S. have taken place; reports claiming otherwise are fake news aimed at influencing financial and oil markets and distracting from the challenges facing the U.S. and Israel.”
Iran has previously committed not to build a nuclear weapon as part of negotiations with the West, yet continued to enrich nuclear material to levels nearing weapons grade.
Iran’s intent to build a nuclear weapon, according to Trump, was a central justification for the war.
This was despite the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon in the wake of last summer’s Operation Midnight Hammer, which Trump said “obliterated” the country’s nuclear weapons program.
When asked on Monday how the U.S. would get Iran’s enriched uranium if these talks go well, Trump suggested Americans would go in to seize it. Experts previously told ABC News that a large American force on the ground would likely be needed to take the nuclear material, which is believed to be buried deep underground at facilities bombed by the U.S. last year.
“Very easy, if we have a deal with them, we’re going down and we’ll take it,” Trump said.
Trump also said he wanted to see a “very serious form of regime change” in Iran.
Over the weekend, Trump had issued an ultimatum to Iran to reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours or face major attacks on its power plants and other energy sites.
Trump changed course on Monday morning, announcing on social media that he ordered the Defense Department to postpone the strikes for five days following what he described as productive conversations about ending the war.
Iran’s foreign ministry denied talks with the U.S., Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. is talking with a “top person” in Iran, but not the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
The president did not offer specifics on who exactly the U.S. is negotiating with, only saying he is “a man who I believe is the most respected.” Just on Friday, Trump had said there was “nobody to talk to” after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed much of the Iranian leadership.
Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, led the talks for the U.S., Trump said. The president added that the talks went “perfectly” and would continue by phone on Monday. He said that a meeting would take place “soon.”
“We’re doing a five-day period. We’ll see how that goes, and if it goes well, we’re going to end up with settling this, otherwise we just keep bombing our little hearts out,” Trump added.
Trump said there is a “very serious chance of making a deal,” but that he is not “guaranteeing anything.”
“All I’m saying is we are in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal,” he said. “And I think, if I were a betting man, I’d bet for it. But again, I’m not guaranteeing anything.”
Trump, when asked whether he believed Israel would abide by any peace deal, said that Israel would be “very happy.”
Trump’s pause on attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure prompted a positive reaction in the stock and oil markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared on Monday, and the price of oil dropped about 10% to about $90 a barrel.
Still, Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz remains in place.
When asked who will be in control of the strait after the conflict, Trump said it would be “jointly controlled.”
“Maybe me, me and the next ayatollah, whoever that is,” the president said.
Meanwhile, thousands more U.S. Marines and several Navy ships are heading to the Middle East, and the Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in supplemental funding.
When asked whether the administration would still request that $200 billion if these talks end the war, Trump replied, “It would be nice to have.”
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard attends an event where President Donald Trump delivered an announcement on his Homeland Security Task Force in the State Dinning Room of the White House on October 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — For the first time since the start of the war, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard faced pointed questions Wednesday on whether Iran posed an “imminent threat” to the U.S. as President Donald Trump has maintained.
Lawmakers pressed Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Kash Patel and other national security officials on the conflict, and other global matters, on the intelligence community’s annual assessment of such worldwide threats on Capitol Hill.
The hearing came one day after the resignation of Joe Kent, the Trump administration’s top counterterrorism official, who stepped down over his objections to the war, arguing there was no “imminent threat” from Iran.
Gabbard says only Trump can determine an ‘imminent threat’ in contentious exchange
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff pointedly questioned Gabbard about the intelligence community’s assessment on Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
President Trump previously said Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated” by U.S. strikes last summer. Among its several justifications for the current war, however, the White House said Tehran posed an imminent nuclear threat.
“Was it the assessment of the intelligence community that there was an imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime? Yes or no?” Ossoff asked Gabbard.
“Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president,” Gabbard said.
Ossoff pushed back, accusing Gabbard of not answering directly because her response would contradict a statement from the White House.
“It is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States. This is the worldwide threats hearing, where, as you noted in your opening testimony, you represent the [intelligence community’s] assessment of threats. You are here to represent the IC’s assessment of threats,” Ossoff said.
At another point in the hearing, CIA Director Ratcliffe said Iran has “been unwilling and incapable of enriching uranium to 60% as a result of” last summer’s strikes.
Lt. General James Adams, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, deferred questions about Iran’s existing nuclear capability and discussion about the possibility of U.S. boots on the ground to eliminate it to a classified session.
On Iran’s missile capabilities, Gabbard said Iran “previously demonstrated space launch and other technology it could use to begin to develop a militarily viable ICBM [Intercontinental Ballistic Missile] before 2035, should Tehran attempt to pursue that capability.”
Her remarks repeat an earlier assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency before the U.S. and Israel began the war on Iran on Feb. 28. Gabbard said the assessment would be updated with the impact of the administration’s military campaign “Operation Epic Fury.”
Gabbard says Iranian regime appears ‘intact’ but ‘largely degraded’
In her opening statement, Gabbard provided the latest intelligence community assessment on Iran.
On the country’s current leadership, Gabbard said the regime “appears to be intact, but largely degraded due to attacks.”
“Its conventional military power projection capabilities have largely been destroyed, leaving limited options. Iran’s strategic position has been significantly degraded,” she said.
She also warned that while “internal tensions are likely to increase” inside Iran as its “economy worsens.”
“If a hostile regime survives, it will likely seek to begin a yearslong effort to rebuild its military, missiles and UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] force,” Gabbard said.
CIA director pushes back on ex-counterterrorism official
Ratcliffe told senators that Iran “posed an immediate threat” when the U.S. decided to attack the country, pushing back on the statements made by Kent when he resigned.
Kent said in his resignation letter he could not “in good conscience” support the war and argued that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the nation.
Asked whether he believed “Iran had ceased in its nuclear ambitions, or … its desire to continue to build ballistic missiles capable of threatening American troops and allies in the Middle East” by Republican Sen. Jon Cornyn, Ratcliffe said “the intelligence reflects the contrary.”
“So you disagree with Mr. Kent?” Cornyn asked.
“I do,” Ratcliffe said.
Cornyn did not put the question to Gabbard, Kent’s former boss.
“I think Iran has been a constant threat to the United States for an extended period of time, and posed an immediate threat at this time,” Ratcliffe said.
Officials pressed on planning for Strait of Hormuz, Gabbard sidesteps
Gabbard sidestepped questions on whether she briefed the president on a probable response from Iran — which has been now beared out with Iranian strikes against U.S. partners in the region and a closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Asked by Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, whether that contingency was “communicated to the president,” Gabbard would only say that the U.S. military took “preemptive planning” measures ahead of its attack.
She later acknowledged that it’s “long been an assessment of the IC that Iran would likely hold the Strait of Hormuz as leverage.”
“Did you brief the president, if he starts a war of choice, that the likely result would be that Iran would strike adjacent Gulf nations and close the Strait of Hormuz?” Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, asked Gabbard at one point.
“I have not and won’t divulge internal conversations,” Gabbard replied.
The U.S. Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sign at Federal Center Plaza in Washington, D.C., Feb. 15, 2026. (Ken Cedeno/Reuters, FILE)
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is encouraging Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees who are furloughed due to the partial government shutdown to apply for unemployment, according to internal documents reviewed by ABC News.
The shutdown directly affects the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) and FEMA, which are not funded until Congress can resolve its differences over funding the agency.
The information went to FEMA employees who are furloughed and now asked to file with unemployment departments in the state in which they are based.
DHS is asking creditors for “flexibility” for its employees “who are experiencing challenges with making timely payments, including consideration of waiving any late fees associated with delayed or incomplete mortgage or rent payments until the situation is resolved.”
“Because DHS employees will not receive pay during the lapse in appropriations, many are experiencing difficulty in meeting their financial obligations, including rent and mortgage payments,” a letter dated March 15 to creditors from DHS says. “This challenge is compounded by the fact that many employees are still affected by the previous 43-day lapse in appropriations. This lapse is expected to be temporary and is entirely beyond our employees’ control.”
Funding for DHS lapsed in mid-February when Democrats refused to vote for it, demanding that reforms be made to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the wake of its immigration enforcement operations, in particular in Minnesota, where Renee Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot during encounters with federal agents in January. The Trump administration accuses congressional Democrats of playing politics at the expense of the American people.
“Democrats have cut off resources and funding for FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and thousands of federal law enforcement officers — jeopardizing America’s border security, maritime safety, and ability to respond to emergencies,” the White House said in a statement last week.
Americans’ safety and security are on the line each day the Democrat Shutdown continues.”
On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called on Democrats to join forces behind a discharge petition that would fund all DHS agencies except for ICE. A vote on similar legislation failed earlier in the Senate but Jeffries aims to put House Republicans on the record as well, though he would need at least four Republicans to vote with Democrats.
The government was shut down for 43 days in October and November over Democrats’ push to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, which were cut in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill.
ABC News’ John Parkinson and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
