As DHS shutdown drags, Sen. Britt leads GOP push

Zoom in: In a call with Alabama news outlets, Britt said she offered a meeting with Democratic Washington Sen. Patty Murray early this week and Murray declined.

• Murray, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is a leading negotiator on the Democratic side. Axios reached out to her office for comment on Britt's remarks.

Catch up quick: Democrats seeking a set of reforms are proposing to fund DHS agencies like FEMA and TSA, but not ICE or Customs and Border Protection.

• Republicans want to fund all of DHS while the negotiations continue, saying Democrats are playing politics and making a move to defund ICE.

The latest: The White House sent an offer to Democrats almost two weeks ago, Britt said, but hasn't heard a response.

• Details of the proposal haven't been released, and questions from Axios to Britt's office went unanswered Wednesday.

What they're saying: "We're not going to let them defund the police or defund ICE and defund CBP," Britt said on the call.

• "We want reforms to rein in ICE and Border Patrol," Murray said on the floor Wednesday. "We also want TSA and FEMA funded, but we are not going to be blackmailed into cutting a blank check for ICE to get it done."

Case in point: Airports around the country are starting to feel the effects of the DHS shutdown, which started Feb. 14, but so far the effects haven't reached Huntsville International Airport.

• HSV spokesperson Mary Swanstrom told Axios on Wednesday that the airport's TSA checkpoint was operating normally.

Go deeper: The contracting mess Noem's leaving behind at DHS