"The Deal That Wasn't"
MN-06 Daily: March 24, 2026
11 tweets. 0 media appearances. 0 votes. 0 press releases.
958 days since Rep. Emmer’s last in-person town hall — August 9, 2023, Hamburg, MN.
DHS Shutdown: Day 39.
The Shutdown That Won’t End
Today is Day 39 of the DHS shutdown — the longest in the department’s history. It has also been the most chaotic day of negotiations yet, and as of this writing, TSA workers still don’t have paychecks.
Here is what actually happened this week:
On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Thune had a proposal ready — fund DHS without ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, pursue that funding later through reconciliation. Trump rejected it, demanded Republicans link DHS funding to the SAVE America Act, and threatened to publicly chastise any Senate Republicans who wanted to leave for recess.
By Monday night, Trump had reversed. A group of GOP senators met with him at the White House and came back optimistic. Sen. Katie Britt said “we do” have a solution. Senators believed a deal was at hand.
On Tuesday, Republicans sent Democrats a formal offer: fund 94% of the DHS budget while withholding $5.5 billion for ICE’s deportation arm, with the excluded ICE funds and a version of the SAVE America Act to be pursued later through reconciliation. Democrats rejected it. Their position hasn’t changed since January: any deal touching ICE must include reforms — body cameras, warrant requirements, accountability measures — stemming directly from the killing of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. The Republican offer contained none of those reforms. Schumer said a counter-offer was coming.
Also Tuesday, Trump told reporters Democrats “broke the deal that we had” and that he was “pretty much not happy” with whatever deal emerges.
So: the closest the two sides have come to an agreement in 39 days fell apart — again — on Tuesday afternoon. Negotiations are continuing. Nobody has been paid.
This morning, Rep. Emmer retweeted the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs: “We knew this last October. We know this now. This needs to end. Democrats are playing political games instead of prioritizing the livelihood and safety of American families. Veterans who are working as TSA agents should receive the pay they deserve.”
He is not wrong that veterans working as TSA agents deserve their paychecks. He has been saying variations of this for 39 days.
The framework that would deliver those paychecks — fund TSA, FEMA, CISA, and the Coast Guard now, handle ICE separately — is structurally close to what Democrats have been asking for since February. Republicans blocked it Sunday at Trump’s direction. Democrats rejected the Tuesday version for lacking ICE reforms. The veterans Emmer is tweeting about are caught in the middle of both.
At least 458 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began. Nearly 11% called out Monday alone. Delta Airlines suspended its special congressional travel service this week. Congress is now personally inconvenienced.
The Caucus That Keeps Growing
This morning, the @GOPMajorityWhip account reposted: “Now consisting of 59 members across 24 states, the Sharia-Free America Caucus continues to gain traction every day. Every Member of Congress should join us in defending Western values and the rule of law. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land — not Sharia.”
For context on the arc: Emmer joined the Sharia-Free America Caucus on January 9, 2026 — as first reported by Laura Loomer. At that point the caucus had roughly 26 members. By February 5, it had grown to 33 members and held its first press conference. By March 19, it had reached 55 members. Today, Keith Self reports 59.
Some of those members have made their views explicit. Rep. Andy Ogles has said Muslims “don’t belong in American society.” Rep. Randy Fine has said he would choose dogs over Muslims. Brandon Gill — the Texas congressman Emmer welcomed to Minnesota last night for the CD6 Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, and whom Emmer called “a patriot and fighter for our conservative, America First values” — called for a total ban on Muslim immigration to the United States in March 2026.
That is the same Tom Emmer who, in 2015, co-founded the bipartisan Congressional Somalia Caucus with Keith Ellison — a caucus focused on U.S. policy toward Somalia and the importance of Somali-American communities in Minnesota. He co-founded it with the same man he now accuses, on national television, of being “part of” a fraud conspiracy.
He has not returned to St. Cloud since the immigration enforcement operations began in January.
What Else He Tweeted
On Keith Ellison: “Quick question, Keith: Is this why you turned a blind eye to the BILLIONS in fraud? Because you were getting paid off by the fraudsters? Minnesotans deserve answers.”
The Feeding Our Future fraud is real and documented. The Ellison allegations are a matter Emmer has been pressing across conservative media for months. MN-06 Watch has transcribed all 54 minutes of the December 2021 recording at the center of his case. Readers can draw their own conclusions at ellison-fof-transcript.netlify.app.
On Hakeem Jeffries and immigration: “Shameful deflection by @RepJeffries. But not surprising considering Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to prevent law enforcement from getting violent illegal aliens like Sheridan Gorman’s killer out of our country. They could at least own up to it.”
On Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation as DHS Secretary: “As DHS secretary, @SenMullin is going to continue to carry out @POTUS’ successful homeland security mission with renewed determination. With Mullin at the helm, we will continue to make America SAFE again.” Mullin was sworn in Tuesday. His first communication to DHS employees: getting the department reopened is “my No. 1 priority.” The shutdown is now in Day 39.
On a personal note: “Happy birthday to the love of my life and my best friend — my beautiful wife, Jacquie!” Posted on both accounts.
In the News
My piece in the Minnesota Reformer this week, "Tom Emmer's North Star: Whatever's Politically Expedient," is at minnesotareformer.com if you haven't read it. It synthesizes the infrastructure vote-versus-credit contradiction, the community-as-asset-to-community-as-target pattern, and the Somalia Caucus co-founding alongside the current posture. If you haven’t read it: minnesotareformer.com.
Local Wright County coverage from KRWC documented the March 20 roundtable with Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves in Monticello — Emmer’s most recent in-district appearance. At the event, Emmer praised the I-94 Gap project as “a good example of work that can do considerable good for growing areas.” The I-94 expansion is funded in part through federal competitive grants whose availability was significantly expanded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — the bill Emmer voted against in 2021 and called “President Biden’s multi-trillion dollar socialist wish list.”
The Questions
Submitted to Rep. Emmer’s office via official contact form. We are still awaiting a response to all previous submissions.
The Senate rejected a Republican offer today to fund 94% of DHS because it contained no ICE reforms. You have tweeted for 39 days that TSA veterans deserve their paychecks. Do you support a framework that funds TSA, FEMA, CISA, and the Coast Guard now, with ICE handled separately? If not, what is your alternative?
The Sharia-Free America Caucus now has 59 members. Fellow member Rep. Andy Ogles has said Muslims “don’t belong in American society.” Rep. Randy Fine has said he would choose dogs over Muslims. Rep. Brandon Gill, whom you hosted last night at the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, called for a total ban on Muslim immigration this month. You co-founded the Congressional Somalia Caucus in 2015. Do you endorse those statements? When did you last speak with your Somali-American constituents in St. Cloud?
It has been 958 days since your last in-person town hall — August 9, 2023, Hamburg, MN. When is the next one?
📊 MN-06 Watch Research Tools Vote Tracker • Tweet Archive • Transcripts
We document what your representative does. You decide what it means.
Subscribe to MN-06 Watch for daily accountability coverage of Rep. Tom Emmer.
Share this with someone in MN-06.
📊 Source Data:
Washington Times: “Trump open to GOP plan to end DHS shutdown without ICE removal money,” March 24, 2026
Bloomberg: “DHS Shutdown Persists as Democrats Reject Trump-Backed Offer,” March 24, 2026
CBS News: “Senate Democrats continue push for ICE reforms in emerging DHS shutdown deal,” March 24, 2026
Daily Beast: “Insiders Reveal Trump Secretly Torpedoed Deal to End DHS Shutdown Chaos,” March 23, 2026
Roll Call: “DHS funding deal appears close after White House talks,” March 23, 2026
Spectrum News: “TSA workers demand to be paid as partial government shutdown drags on,” March 24, 2026
NOTUS: “House Republicans’ ‘Sharia Free America’ Caucus Is Surging,” March 19, 2026
Rep. Keith Self press release: Sharia Free America Caucus first press conference, February 5, 2026
Rep. Tom Emmer press release: “Whip Emmer joins Sharia Free America Caucus,” January 9, 2026
Wikipedia: Brandon Gill (confirmed TX-26, caucus membership, statements)
KRWC Radio: Wright County I-94 roundtable coverage, March 24, 2026
Minnesota Reformer: “Tom Emmer’s North Star: Whatever’s Politically Expedient,” March 20, 2026
@GOPMajorityWhip, @tomemmer Twitter/X accounts, March 23–24, 2026
 | A guest post by
|