White House border czar Tom Homan walked into a room full of centrist Democratic senators on Thursday and spent more than an hour negotiating the reopening of the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer was nowhere in sight.
The meeting, held in a suite of offices just off the Capitol Rotunda, marks the first time Homan and Senate Republicans sat down directly with centrist Democrats to discuss ending the DHS funding lapse, which began on Feb. 14. The move signals a clear White House strategy: go around Schumer and deal with the Democrats willing to talk.
Homan emerged from the meeting and told reporters the conversations would continue.
We need to get the government open and we're going to keep having discussions.
Sen. Katie Britt, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, framed the session as a breakthrough.
This is the first time our Democratic colleagues have sat down with us and obviously I really appreciated Homan and his leadership in the room.
Up until now, the Democratic negotiating team has been led by Schumer alongside House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. That trio submitted their latest offer to the White House on Monday night.
But the White House didn't wait for Schumer's next move. It went to the senators who've shown a willingness to break ranks before.
The centrist Democrats in Thursday's meeting included Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, and Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. All three belong to a faction that has already demonstrated it will cross Schumer when the politics demand it. Eight Democratic caucus members, including King, broke with their leadership before Thanksgiving to vote for a government funding bill, ending a 43-day shutdown that had dragged on for six weeks.
That history matters. Republicans believe they need seven or eight centrist Democrats to reopen DHS. The math works only if enough Democrats decide Schumer's strategy of delay is costing them more than cooperation would.
If the White House expected Thursday's meeting to produce quick concessions, the Democrats in the room had a different message. Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray, who also attended, told reporters the two sides remain "a long ways apart." Murray notably did not support last year's deal to reopen the government, making her presence at the table a signal without a concession.
Cortez Masto's office released a statement late Thursday that drew clear lines:
Democrats have made their demands very clear. I'm glad that the White House is talking with us, but they have a lot of work to do. My colleagues and I are not going to vote for any deal that doesn't include real reforms on warrants, masks, training, and our other demands.
Those demands come from a 10-point list that includes requirements for federal immigration officers to obtain judicial warrants before entering residences and a ban on officers wearing masks during operations. Republicans have discussed stronger rules on body cameras and other reforms, but the gap between the two sides remains substantial.
A Democratic source familiar with the talks insisted the White House's outreach wouldn't fracture the caucus, telling The Hill that Democrats "made it clear that they wouldn't be able to" pick members off. The source framed the discussion as being about how "to rein in ICE and Border Patrol."
That framing tells you everything about where Democrats' priorities sit. DHS funding has lapsed for over a month. The department responsible for border security operates under a cloud of uncertainty. And the Democratic negotiating position centers not on restoring that funding, but on constraining the agencies that enforce immigration law.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune offered a blunter assessment on Tuesday, accusing Democrats of slow-walking negotiations for political advantage.
The Democrats seem intent on dragging out this political issue.
Thune pointed out that Democrats took 18 days to respond to one White House offer. That pace doesn't suggest a party eager to govern. It suggests a party comfortable using a funding lapse as leverage, content to let DHS operate in limbo while extracting concessions on immigration enforcement.
Thune's prescription was simple:
You can't get there if you're not sitting down at the table.
Which is precisely why the White House went around the man who wasn't sitting at it.
Schumer's absence from Thursday's meeting isn't just a tactical detail. It reflects a leader squeezed from both directions. The centrists in his caucus have already demonstrated they'll cut deals without him. And from the left, the pressure is mounting too.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, the favorite to win the Illinois Senate race, said plainly that she would not support Schumer for another term as Democratic leader. In an interview with progressive YouTube commentator Jack Cocchiarella, Stratton channeled the frustration of her party's base:
I've made it clear that I would not support Chuck Schumer as leader of the Democratic caucus because I think right now what I'm hearing from voters all across the state of Illinois is that they are fed up. They're fed up with what's happening in Washington.
Stratton added that voters want "fighters and not folders," people who will "stand up, fight for what's important."
The irony is rich. Schumer's left flank attacks him for not fighting hard enough. His centrist flank walks into meetings without him because he won't negotiate seriously enough. He is simultaneously too confrontational and too passive, depending on which wing of his party you ask. That's not a leadership crisis waiting to happen. It's one already underway.
The White House strategy is now visible. Rather than funnel every negotiation through a Democratic leadership team that takes 18 days to respond to an offer, Homan and the administration will cultivate the senators who've already shown they value outcomes over party discipline. It worked in November. There's no reason it can't work again.
The question is whether enough centrist Democrats decide the cost of standing with Schumer exceeds the cost of breaking with him. Every day DHS funding remains lapsed, the political calculus shifts. Voters don't reward shutdowns. They reward results.
Schumer wasn't in the room on Thursday. If the White House has its way, he won't need to be.