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The Situation Room

Shutdown Negotiations Continue; Interview With Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA); Interview With Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA). Aired 11:30a- 12p ET

Aired March 25, 2026 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:30:03]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Senator, thanks for all you're doing. Thanks for writing this important book.

I know you have been closely involved in these talks. Is this deal falling apart right now or is there still some hope?

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Well, here's the way I see it, Wolf. I try to look at the world as it is, not as I want it to be.

Solving this problem through reconciliation, it's clear to me, is going to be very, very difficult. I got up this morning at about 5:00. I can read. I can watch TV. I watch the news. Number one, the reason I said it's going to be very hard, number one, the president is against it.

I was told -- I haven't been in meetings with the president. I was told that he was for it. One senator told me he was even enthusiastic. That's not accurate. He's not for it. Number two, our majority leader is everything.

Whoever the majority leader is controls the floor. And based on the comments I have read this morning, our majority leader is not really for it. Number three, my Republican colleagues who are leading the talking filibuster clearly want to continue the talking filibuster, as is their right.

Number four, Senator Schumer has changed his mind. Chuck probably has another side to this story, but the whole opening, everything up on reconciliation is premised on the suggestion by Democrats that they would open everything up, including TSA and -- but ICE,and we would have to deal with ICE on our own.

Senator Schumer has changed that position. He no longer will open up the rest of the department unless we agree to what he wants to do on ICE. So we're back to square one.

BLITZER: I want to play, Senator...

KENNEDY: That's honestly the way I see it.

BLITZER: Well...

KENNEDY: I wish I didn't have to say that, but that's where we are.

BLITZER: Yes, it's not a good situation.

I want to play a little bit of what some of your fellow lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been telling CNN about the framework deal. Listen to this. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Completely fund the entire department. That's the responsible way to do this thing. So, we've been very resistant to any idea to break it apart.

REP. SUSIE LEE (D-NV): They did nothing to address the reforms of ICE. And that's what we want. And so until they do that, it's not a serious offer.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-Can't): As long as Donald Trump is holding America hostage to pass a measure that would in effect purge voter rolls and suppress voters, there will be no deal.

REP. ANDY HARRIS (R-MD): No, that's crazy. You got to -- you got to reopen all of government.

QUESTION: Are you definitely a no on that proposal?

HARRIS: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So what's your response? What do you think? Elaborate a little bit?

KENNEDY: Well, I think that's honestly how my Democratic colleagues feel. And it matters, first because I respect their opinion. I don't agree with it, but I respect it.

But, number two, using reconciliation to solve this problem is premised on the Democrats agreeing to open up every part of DHS, including the TSA, and letting us deal, us meaning Republicans, deal with the ICE under reconciliation. I thought that was the deal. I know that was the deal.

And if the Democrats have changed their position, then what's the point? Number two, I'm going to repeat it. It's clear to me the president is against this. I heard his comments this morning, big as Dallas. I was told that he was cool with it, but I don't think he is.

And, number two, I just -- the folks who started the talking filibuster want to continue. That's their prerogative. And, number three, I don't think the majority leader is real keen on the idea either. Look, I'm labor, not management, and I'm going to work toward trying to put together a budget resolution.

But you're not talking to Bambi's baby brother here. I know my colleagues pretty well. BLITZER: You certainly do.

If Congress can't even seem to do the most basic part of its job, namely funding the federal government, are you at all optimistic you can pass any of President Trump's agenda while he's still in office?

KENNEDY: Well, here's all I know to do right now. And it may not work, though it could work if everybody's in good faith.

Number one, they won't like it, but we take our Democratic colleagues out of the process. We put together the entire Department of Homeland Security budget, and only that budget, through reconciliation with Republican votes. That's ICE, that's TSA, that's Secret Service, that's Coast Guard, that's everything.

[11:35:20]

Number two, we allow the proponents of the talking filibuster on the SAVE Act to continue to pursue that approach. Now, that doesn't -- that's not going to make the Democrats happy, but then, under reconciliation, we don't need their votes. And it's not going to solve the SAVE Act problem, but that's all I know to do.

The only other option realistically is to have the Republicans give in and agree to the Democratic-suggested changes on ICE, and I don't think that's going to happen in your or my natural lifetime.

BLITZER: I know...

KENNEDY: And the third option is obviously to leave everything shut down. And that's not acceptable. That's not fair to TSA and, more importantly the American people.

BLITZER: Yes, because they're suffering right now.

You tried, I know, Senator, to pass a resolution over the weekend that would withhold senators' pay during, but it was blocked. If you, as members of Congress didn't get your paychecks like TSA workers, for example, would we ever see shutdowns?

KENNEDY: If -- there are two ways to stop shutdowns in the Senate, fail-proof. Number one, no senator gets paid, but, equally important, no senator can leave Washington, D.C.

Now, I can't get the votes to do the second one. I thought I could get the votes to do the first part of that, no pay, because my bill went through the Rules Committee with every Democrat and every Republican, but there was a Democratic objection on the floor.

I have stopped taking my pay. I'm not trying to be a hero. It's -- I don't judge anybody who does take it, but this situation we're in is serious as four heart attacks and a stroke. And you can't expect people like TSA and Secret Service and all the other folks to work without a paycheck. They just can't do it.

And I'm not -- I'm going to try to -- I believe in shared sacrifice, is what I'm trying to say.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

All right, we will see what happens, and we will stay in very close touch with you, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana. Appreciate it very much.

KENNEDY: Thanks, Wolf. Love your show, man.

BLITZER: Thank you very much.

Still to come, one of the top Democrats in Congress will be joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM, and we will ask her how she wants her party to handle these negotiations to try to end the partial government shutdown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:42:05]

BLITZER: And we're following more breaking news here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

President Trump now says he -- quote -- "may call up the U.S. National Guard" for more help at the nation's airports. This comes as we're learning that if the Department of Homeland Security shut down is not resolved by this Friday, TSA workers will miss nearly $1 billion in their paychecks.

Let's go to CNN White House correspondent Alayna Treene right now.

Alayna, what more are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, look, Wolf, I think it's clear how frustrated this president is about this shutdown, which today has reached day 39 of the Homeland Security being shuttered.

Now, this comes, his post about floating this idea of sending in the National Guard -- I should note he's made comments like that in the past, but this, of course, more forceful and putting it in writing.

It comes as we know that several Republicans came to the White House Monday night trying to convince the president to get on board with their proposed deal, which is essentially to fund all of the Department of Homeland Security except for ICE operations, Republicans trying to tackle that at a later date.

This is something I should say, this proposed deal, even though they came out and said they have one, the White House is on board and they're going to work with Democrats on it, is one that the president himself has not even publicly endorsed yet, of course, because it is not tied to his high priority, SAVE America legislation, essentially voter restriction -- legislation among other things.

I will say, we have to see where this is going to go. We heard from the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, that they would be sending a counterproposal to the White House and to Republicans. They said that this proposed deal that the White House got on board reluctantly, the president got on board with is something that they still need more out of.

And so this is still messy. But I will say, bottom line is the president very much knows how bad this is for politics. This is a huge struggle, having all of these different airports, of course, struggling under the weight of this, TSA agents not getting paychecks, and also concerns, I should say, about the war abroad happening and what the lack of funding for DHS means for concerns about threats here in the United States.

All of this something the president is struggling with. We will have to see whether he actually makes good, though, on this threat.

BLITZER: All right, Alayna Treene at the White House, thank you very much for reporting that breaking news.

And we will have more news when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:48:51]

BLITZER: Happening now: The standoff over funding for the Department of Homeland Security is dragging on and on after nearly 40 days and prompting chaos at airports across the country.

President Trump stopped short of endorsing a Republican plan to end the shutdown yesterday. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't want to comment until I see the deal, but, as you know, they're negotiating a deal. I guess they're getting fairly close. But I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That Senate proposal would fund the entire department, except for a portion of the immigration enforcement budget. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are also frustrated with the plan.

Let's discuss with the House Democratic whip, Congresswoman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for coming in.

Do I call you Whip Clark or Congresswoman Clark?

(LAUGHTER)

REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA): Either one.

BLITZER: I will call you Congresswoman Clark. What's your position on this proposed plan?

CLARK: Listen, chaos is the defining word of this administration and Republicans in Congress.

There is an easy fix here. We have offered, as Democrats, that let's reopen all of DHS if you will agree to commonsense ways of operating ICE that every police department across this country implements and uses. If they are unwilling to do that, we have said for weeks, then let's continue to negotiate around ICE and Border Patrol and reopen every other part.

[11:50:27]

Because the president has decided to take us into a war of his choice, and, more than ever, we need to make sure TSA workers are being paid, the Coast Guard, FEMA, our cybersecurity experts. So they can take one of two paths.

And the answer coming from the president and Republicans is, we take neither. We would like not to pay TSA, we would like not to rein in ICE and have them conduct themselves without a reign of terror in communities. We are just going to use them as collateral to get a voter suppression bill.

This isn't an answer the American people can tolerate or put up with, and they deserve better than that.

BLITZER: So it's unclear right now whether any deal is emerging, right?

CLARK: That's right.

BLITZER: And, in the meantime, TSA agents are going to not show up or they're not going to be there and they're not going to get paid, and these long lines of airports are going to continue.

CLARK: That's right.

And every single time it comes down to a choice, this administration says, we choose to hurt workers, to put the American people last. And he is using TSA workers as collateral for an extreme agenda that nobody wants.

When oil prices go up, they say, oh, that doesn't matter. Our economy will be fine. They take away health care for millions of people, they say it's OK because we got tax cuts for billionaires. And now they're saying TSA workers should continue to show up, work without pay, when they are facing skyrocketing costs,and that's what we're going to do until we can pass a bill that makes it very difficult for people to vote in this country?

That is insanity. And we are so clear. Let's reopen every part of DHS if you refuse to negotiate in good faith. And if we're we can get to a deal around putting those commonsense reforms at ICE, then we will reopen that too. The choice is theirs. They're choosing to put it all on workers.

BLITZER: But, based on what you have heard, are Republicans open to any of what you call these commonsense reforms at ICE?

CLARK: We have heard public comments from Senator Kennedy, from Senator Thune, from others, even more conservative members of their caucus, saying, we would be open to opening up all the other critical parts of DHS while negotiations continue.

But the president won't allow it. So we know where the problem is, and over in the House, they're not going to make a move without the White House. And who is the one who bears the brunt of all of this? It's Americans at home. It's TSA workers.

And they have fought us every step of the way in making sure that TSA can form a union, that they can get paid equally. And to now present themselves as somehow defending them is an outrageous lie to the American people.

BLITZER: Given the chaos -- and there's been a lot of chaos at airports...

CLARK: Yes.

BLITZER: ... we have seen in recent days all around the country.

Do you have any concerns that Democrats like you could potentially face a backlash from voters for refusing to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, which, of course, includes the TSA?

CLARK: I think the American people are very clear what's going on here.

We have said it repeatedly. We're up to nine times that we have said, let's open up every other part of this until ICE is willing to act like every other police department, but let's not wait to make sure that TSA workers get what they need, get the paycheck they deserve, and the Coast Guard and FEMA and Cyber.

BLITZER: FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

CLARK: Exactly, with these storms.

We have seen under Kristi Noem a dismantling of these other parts of this -- of DHS and all the funding going into ICE and into their reign of terror against communities. And so we have been crystal clear, and it keeps being rejected. Open up the other parts of DHS, if you refuse to do the right thing in ICE, and let us continue to negotiate that.

[11:55:03]

But the Republicans are hell-bent on holding TSA workers hostage and creating hardship for them and creating chaos and a lack of safety at our airports and in our skies.

BLITZER: You're the Democratic whip. Good luck. Let's hope you guys can work out so some sort of deal, Democrats and Republicans working together to keep the country moving in the right direction.

CLARK: We stand ready to make that deal.

BLITZER: Let's hope it happens.

Thanks very much, Katherine Clark, from Massachusetts.

CLARK: Thank you.

BLITZER: And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN. We will see you back here tomorrow morning, every weekday morning 10:00 a.m. Eastern for two hours.

"INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts right after a quick break.