White House seeks to circumvent Schumer on potential DHS funding deal

White House border czar Tom Homan met with a group of centrist Democrats at the Capitol on Thursday, deliberately bypassing Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in an effort to negotiate a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. The meeting signals the Trump administration's strategy of negotiating directly with moderate Democrats rather than going through party leadership, potentially fragmenting Democratic unity on DHS funding. Schumer's exclusion underscores tensions between the administration and the Senate's top Democrat, while highlighting the centrists' potential leverage as swing votes in any funding agreement. The DHS closure has left the border agency without appropriations, creating pressure on both parties to reach a deal. Homan's direct outreach suggests the White House believes it can peel off enough Democratic votes to pass a bill without full Democratic leadership backing.