Thune, GOP blast Dems in DHS standoff; Lankford says they fear ICE over Iran

"The opportunity to actually drive this to a conclusion is there," Thune said at a news conference Saturday in response to Fox News Digital. 

"You have to have, obviously, to negotiate a deal, you got to have two sides at the table. The White House is there. Senate Republicans are there. The question is, are Senate Democrats going to take yes for an answer?"

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) entered its 36th day of a shutdown, and Senate Democrats continue to block funding for the agency in their pursuit of reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

"We have the Department of Homeland Security closed right now because, apparently, my Democratic colleagues are more afraid of ICE than they are of Iran and the challenges that we face now in the conflict internationally that we know that we have threats back in the homeland," Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said at Saturday's news conference.

Republicans tried and failed for a fifth time to fully reopen the agency on Friday. In the background, there have been several attempts by Senate Democrats to move forward with standalone funding bills to open parts of DHS, excluding immigration enforcement.

The Senate will have a full vote on a standalone funding bill for the Transportation Security Administration, pushed by Schumer, later on Saturday. It will likely fail given Republicans' position that the department should be completely reopened.

"I know they think it's, as has been described by one of their leaders, 'very serene, very serene' with their position," Thune said. "Well, I'm telling you something, the people who are sitting in those lines at the airports right now don't see it as very serene. This needs to be resolved. We need a result."

In a Truth Social post later Saturday, President Donald Trump threatened to deploy ICE agents to U.S. airports if Democrats did not accept a deal. He said ICE would handle airport security and immediately arrest illegal immigrants coming into the U.S. with a special focus on Somalians.