Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) told CBS during the past hour that he will not support the Department of Homeland Security budget unless Senate GOP Leader John Thune strips it from the minibus spending bill, advocating for separate negotiations with reforms to avoid a government shutdown, according to an X post by @igorbobic. King stated, "If those bills pass 96% of the federal government is funded. Take up DHS by itself. Let's have an honest negotiation, put some guardrails on what's going on, some accountability that would solve this problem. We don't have to have a shutdown." King's position aligns with earlier comments today by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who said Democrats will not fund the current DHS bill without reforms to constrain lawlessness and protect citizens, as reported in a prior update. Separately, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise defended the SAVE Act during an interview over the past hour, stating it establishes national standards to ensure non-citizens cannot vote, in response to questions about requiring states to hand over voter registration logs, according to an X post by @Acyn.
