🗓️ What’s Up Next
Congress
The House and Senate are in all week before they leave for a two-week recess on Monday.
The PA General Assembly
The House is in session today and the Senate returns Monday, April 20th.
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Welcome back to the Compass. There’s been a new development on the DHS funding shutdown, and we’re here to synthesize the last 72 hours of information for you, including some of the other happenings that Congress is hoping to get done before going on recess for most of April.
The Congressional Breakdown
Senate Republicans met Monday with President Trump to discuss the ongoing DHS shutdown, now stretching well into its fifth week, with a plethora of issues following in its wake: long airport lines, $2.5 billion in economic losses, and more, which are starting to have unignorable impacts across the country. Senators Katie Britt (R-AL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Bernie Moreno (R-OH) met with President Trump to discuss the future of DHS funding. Their pitch, reportedly, was: fund DHS now, set aside ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations funding, and figure the other half out later in a second budget reconciliation bill. Iterations of this plan have been circulating as rumors since the partial shutdown began, but it wasn’t until Monday night that it became clear the president was willing to make the move.
A key negotiating point, however, is the SAVE America Act—which President Trump has said must be passed alongside any DHS funding deal. The Monday meeting seemed to signal that he’d be open to separating the two, but within 24 hours, that hope is tenuous. Trump said publicly, “I’m pretty much not happy with it [splitting funding]” and key Democrats rejected the GOP offer, citing once more that it contained no reforms on ICE or border patrol.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Johnson has said that it’s not his preference to pass a bill that doesn’t fully fund ICE, and members of the Freedom Caucus are warning that any attempt to pass the SAVE Act through reconciliation is “failure theater”. If the deal moves forward and DHS funding is split, there are caveats—the non-enforcement portion of ICE, including Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol, would still be funded, which could complicate any Democrat support in the Senate.
That brings us to today. This morning, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) all but announced that the GOP is indeed planning to move forward with another budget reconciliation bill and skirt the 60-vote filibuster threshold. It remains to be seen whether or not the GOP will split funding for ICE and the rest of DHS’s priorities, but it will likely include the sections of the SAVE Act that President Trump has been pushing for. Their roadblock now is the two-week recess scheduled to begin on Monday for both the House and the Senate.
The Sector Breakdown
Tech: First Lady Melania Trump is hosting a two-day conference with her counterparts from more than 40 countries and top tech companies—including Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft—called Fostering the Future Together to “empower children” by creating innovative programs, advocating for supportive education policies, and sponsoring tech-focused legislation.
Transportation: An Air Canada jet carrying more than 70 passengers collided with a fire truck crossing the runway at NYC’s LaGuardia Airport on Sunday. The impact was fatal to the pilot and copilot, and injured several aboard the aircraft. Amid the partial DHS shutdown that’s impacting TSA agents and travelers, investigators are questioning the coordination of air and ground traffic. Former Department of Transportation Inspector General Mary Schiavo, said, “I don’t know how many wake-up calls the (Federal Aviation Administration) needs, but this has been happening for years and sadly some of the most horrific air crashes in history happen on the ground at the airport.”
Defense: The Pentagon is planning to deploy about 3,000 troops to the Middle East, suggesting an increase in involvement that likely has to do with the Strait of Hormuz, which Iranian officials have blocked access to. The Strait moves about a fifth of the world’s oil.
AI: OpenAI Foundation, the nonprofit branch of OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, has pledged on Tuesday to grant $1 billion over the next year to support life science and health research and “will seek to mitigate the impact of AI technologies on jobs, the economy, and mental health”. But questions remain about how philanthropic activities can be tracked and measured for a company like OpenAI.
Crypto: Last week, Senate Banking Republicans reportedly suggested exchanging a housing package in the House for a group of community bank regulatory bills, including cryptocurrency legislation—but the House isn’t buying the trade. The House is hoping to amend the recently approved housing affordability package from the Senate and isn’t willing to tack on its bipartisan banking bills in exchange for not amending the housing bills.
The Pennsylvania Impact
Similar to last week, most things here in Pennsylvania remain the same—the DHS shutdown is producing tangible disruptions at Philadelphia International Airport. Checkpoints have been closed for upwards of a week. On Sunday alone, 24% of TSA agents scheduled to work at PHL called out, and the DHS reported that Sunday saw the highest single-day call-out rate at airports across the country—more than 3,400 TSA workers called out.
On Monday, President Trump announced that he would send U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers (ICE) to airports to ease long lines amid the busy travel season, and PHL is one of 13 airports where agents were spotted. The window to resolve the shutdown before legislators leave on recess is closing fast, and Pennsylvania is heading into its busiest season—not just with travel, but with state budget hearings and advocacy days before summer creeps up.
Meanwhile, the Iran conflict is causing strife at the gas pump for Pennsylvanians. Prices have climbed to $3.82 per gallon, up from $3.12 before the first joint Israel-US strike. We’re talking a lot about planes and travel this week, but it’s worth adding: jet fuel accounts for roughly 30% of an airline’s operating cost in normal circumstances—it’s surged to 85% since the start of the Iran conflict last month. Those planning to travel as the weather gets warmer will see airline tickets jump up in price due to the oil shortage. TIME reports that rising diesel prices also raise the cost of tractors, trains, and trucks that move groceries, and “fertilizer price shock” will work its way through the agricultural supply chain months later. Pennsylvania families are going to feel all of this, and so will the state’s ports, warehouses, and supply chains.
Also happening in Pennsylvania: a PA version of the SAVE Act? State legislators are reportedly looking to create their own version of the voter ID law, likely in the event that the SAVE Act doesn’t pass as-is through the Senate, though the PA version would not be nearly as strict as the House-passed act. Some polling indicates that upwards of 80% of Pennsylvanians support some form of voter ID. We’ll keep our eye on the rumblings as the primary election gets closer.
🔥 What We’re Watching
Did You Know? There are counties in Pennsylvania with more people than in entire states. Philadelphia alone is home to 1.6 million people, which is more than the populations of Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, and North and South Dakota.
Till next time,