Activist and celebrity chef José Andrés joined protesters outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, when President Donald Trump became the first sitting president on record to attend oral arguments on a case at the High Court. 

Andrés, when speaking to Fox News Digital, slammed Trump for “changing the game’s rules,” rules the chef said “have been already done,” the same year as America’s 250th anniversary since the Declaration of Independence was signed. He suggested that what Trump is doing – attempting to ensure that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily do not become American citizens – is not what America “should be working towards.” 

The chef’s comments mirrored remarks by other protesters alongside him outside the Supreme Court, complaining that Trump’s efforts to tighten the screws around birthright citizenship violates the Constitution. Actor Robert De Niro, who did not join protesters but joined Trump and some of his closest advisors inside the courtroom, was also present at the High Court on Wednesday.

JUSTICE JACKSON SPARKS ONLINE UPROAR AFTER LINKING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP TO STEALING A WALLET IN JAPAN

“The argument is that this country, this year, is celebrating 250 years! It’s not the time to be changing the game’s rules. Those rules have been already done,” Andrés said. “Let’s keep working to make sure that the 15 million immigrants become part of America. This is what America should be working towards.”

Andrés’ suggestion that “the game’s rules” have already been written and Trump’s efforts are trying to upend those pre-settled rules, effectively saying it goes against the Constitution and other policies the country was founded on, was echoed by other protesters Fox News Digital caught up with outside the Supreme Court Wednesday as well. 

“Well, I don’t know that there should be no limits, but there certainly shouldn’t be the limits that are proposed. And Justice Robert said it way better than I could. It’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution,” someone at the protest outside the Supreme Court, holding a small dog wearing a sign that read “NO KINGS. ONLY B—-ES,” told Fox News Digital. 

EXPERT FLAGS ‘DISAPPOINTING’ QUESTIONS FROM JUSTICES IN TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP CASE

“We are setting ourselves up for a two-tiered, or hierarchy of citizenship, you know. Why is it that some people who are born here get to be citizens and other people are not, based on who their parents’ ancestry is? To me that just violates the core concept of equality that our country is supposed to be founded on,” said another.

“It will help regulations when it comes to certain laws. And it was kind of – the hearing itself – it was educational, a lot of things to take, and things to learn from the 14th Amendment,” added another.

“We have a 14th Amendment for a reason,” another activist said. “We can’t rewrite the Constitution.”

SAUER CITES ‘STRIKING’ FIGURES ON SECRETIVE BIRTH TOURISM IN HIGH-STAKES SCOTUS CASE

When asked for his thoughts on Wednesday’s oral arguments after leaving the courthouse Wednesday, De Niro focused his criticism on Trump, telling Fox News Digital he didn’t know what to think immediately after leaving the hearing.

“I’m waiting to get a, getting a – I’m not sure because I could hear, but not hear. It’s complicated. So, I can’t say,” De Niro responded when asked about the oral arguments he had just witnessed.

De Niro described the Trump administration’s stance on the matter — that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens — as a way for Republicans to “get rid of people they don’t want.”

When asked about claims he has “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” sometimes referred to by the acronym “TDS,” De Niro called it “nonsense.”

“People don’t like him for a reason,” De Niro shot back. “All the terrible things he’s done. If he did nice things, then he could have, he had the chance — he became president — to do nice things, not hateful, retribution, not just, outright mean things. If he did nice things, people would love him. But he’s got a problem. He’s damaged.” Asked what specifically bothered him about Trump, De Niro said “everything.”

“Everything that we all know now,” De Niro, who reportedly sat in seats reserved for the justices’ guests, added as he was leaving the courthouse. 

Reporting from Wednesday indicated the Supreme Court appeared ready to reject Trump’s argument on birthright citizenship. The arguments reportedly lasted over two hours, and, in addition to Trump, recently fired U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi was present, as was Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, among other Trump allies.

FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican lawmakers are pushing to block federal funding for transgender experiments on animals in the fiscal year 2027 spending bill. 

A letter spearheaded by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and backed by GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and more than a dozen other lawmakers asks appropriators to include language in the fiscal year 2027 spending bill banning federal funding for research on animals studying the effects of “drugs, surgery, or other interventions” intended to alter the human body.

“Tax dollars shouldn’t be funding the Biden Administration’s sickening transgender animal tests,” Gosar said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “That’s why I’ve been working with White Coat Waste to stop the NIH and other federal agencies from wasting money on this woke pseudoscience ever again.”

HHS UNLEASHES SWEEPING CRACKDOWN ON CHILD ‘SEX-REJECTING PROCEDURES,’ THREATENS HOSPITAL, MEDICAID FUNDING

Just days ago, Just the News reported that the NIH awarded another $584,117 to the University of California, San Diego for fiscal year 2026 to continue a mouse study examining the effects of cross-sex hormone treatments.

The lawmakers noted in their letter that language explicitly banning transgender experiments on animals was also included in the 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill.

The letter comes in response to investigations led by medical watchdog White Coat Waste and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which discovered that under the Biden administration, the National Institutes of Health, by the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci, issued millions of dollars in grants for experiments to create transgender mice, rats and monkeys. The purpose of these experiments was to “mimic transgender human children and adults.”

TRUMP-SIGNED SHUTDOWN BILL SENDS $4M TO CHILDREN’S HOSPITALS UNDER FEDERAL PROBE FOR TRANSGENDER CARE

President Donald Trump heavily criticized NIH’s spending on these experiments during his 2025 State of the Union address and announced $8 million in NIH grants for transgender experimentation on animals would be cut.

In June 2025, a federal judge ordered that funding for hundreds of NIH studies, including trans mice research, be restored. However, that ruling applied only to that fiscal year’s budget.

Read the letter below. App users: Click here

“Even though it didn’t have to, the NIH just doled out another half-million in taxpayer cash for a Biden-era experiment that crudely creates ‘female mice to model transgender men’ by cutting out their ovaries and pumping them with testosterone,” White Coat Waste Project Senior Vice President Justin Goodman told Fox News Digital. “Records obtained by White Coat Waste show this project will subject nearly 10,000 mice to horrific taxpayer-funded abuse — invasive surgeries and hormone injections meant to mimic transgender treatments, drilling into their skulls, injecting toxins into their brains, and ultimately decapitating them.”

“White Coat Waste’s exposé of the NIH’s renewed funding to create ‘female mice to model transgender men’ proves that Rep. Gosar’s effort is vital to ensure taxpayers aren’t forced to bankroll these barbaric animal tests,” Goodman said in a statement. “The solution is simple: Stop the money. Stop the madness!” 

A spokesperson for NIH shared in a statement that the government agency continues to invest in new approach methodologies which serve as an alternative to traditional animal testing.

“NIH recently announced a $150 million investment to expand human-based methods that better reflect human biology,” the spokesperson said. “This funding supports organoids, computational models, and other tools to improve how diseases and treatments are studied. The investment is part of a broader shift toward more predictive, human-relevant science.”

While delivering an update to the nation on Operation Epic Fury on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump said the families of the 13 slain U.S. service members have urged him to “please finish the job” to defeat Iran.

Trump emphasized that “every single one of the people, their loved ones, said, ‘Please, sir, please finish the job.’ Every one of them.”

He commended the fallen service members who served in the Army and Air Force.

“We salute them,” he said. “And now we must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives.”

TRUMP TOUTS MILITARY MIGHT AGAINST IRAN AS ALLIES PUSH FOR DIPLOMACY

Thirteen U.S. service members, ages 20 to 54, have been killed in the Middle East since the Trump administration launched its Iran operation. 

Six U.S. Army soldiers were killed in a March 1 Iranian drone strike at a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. Six others, U.S. Air Force airmen, died in a refueling plane crash on March 12 in Iraq. Another, Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, died in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

During his Wednesday night address, Trump announced that the “core strategic objectives” of the operation “are nearing completion.”

“As we celebrate this progress,” Trump said, “we think especially of the 13 American warriors who have laid down their lives in this fight to prevent our children from ever having to face a nuclear Iran.”

TRUMP DECLARES IRAN CONFLICT ‘NEARING COMPLETION’ AS POLL INDICATES AMERICANS’ DISAPPROVAL

Trump has traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware twice since the start of the conflict to honor the fallen service members as their remains were returned to the U.S. in a dignified transfer for burial.

“I wanted to be with those heroes as they returned to American soil,” Trump said. “And I was with them and their families, their parents, their wives, their husbands.”

Trump touted America’s military might. He said the U.S. is “on track” to complete all of its objectives “very shortly.” However, he announced, “We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next 2 to 3 weeks,” adding, “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong.”

TRUMP CALLS ON WORLD TO BUILD ‘DELAYED COURAGE,’ SEIZE KEY OIL ROUTE FROM IRAN

Despite their losses, Trump emphasized that “every one” of the fallen service members’ families asked him to keep going.

“Every one of them,” he repeated. “And we are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance will visit Hungary next week, when he will meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán days ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections.

The vice president and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Budapest from April 7 to 8, according to a release from his office.

The release states that Vance “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”

VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE SUSPENDS 221 CALIFORNIA HOSPICE AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS SO FAR

“Vice President @JDVance will visit Hungary next Tuesday. Looking forward to welcoming you to Budapest!” Orbán declared in a post on X.

U.S. President Donald Trump has enthusiastically endorsed the foreign leader.

TRUMP ALLY ORBAN ISSUES SCATHING LETTER DEMANDING ZELENSKYY CHANGE UKRAINE’S ‘ANTI-HUNGARIAN POLICY’

“I was proud to ENDORSE Viktor for Re-Election in 2022, and am honored to do so again. Election Day is April 12, 2026. Hungary: GET OUT AND VOTE FOR VIKTOR ORBÁN. He is a true friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary — VIKTOR ORBÁN WILL NEVER LET THE GREAT PEOPLE OF HUNGARY DOWN. I AM WITH HIM ALL THE WAY!” Trump declared in part of a Truth Social post last month.

RUBIO SEALS CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH HUNGARY

Trump had previously backed Orbán in February Truth Social posts as well.

President Donald Trump goes before the nation in prime time on Wednesday evening to deliver what the White House says is “an important update” on the war with Iran.

The president’s address comes amid the month-long attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Iran, which polls indicate are unpopular with many Americans, and a surge in gas prices as a direct result of the fighting have triggered a further slide in Trump’s standing in public opinion surveys.

The political implications are clear: The strikes on Iran and the erosion of the president’s approval ratings are warning signs for the GOP as Republicans ramp up to defend their slim House and Senate majorities in this autumn’s midterm elections.

Trump stood at 41% approval and 59% disapproval in the latest Fox News national poll, which was conducted March 20–23. The president’s negative 18-point margin was up from 14 points in the previous Fox News poll, which was conducted Feb. 28–March 2, as the strikes against Iran began.

FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON THE U.S. WAR WITH IRAN

The president’s approval ratings stood in the upper 30s, with his disapproval in the upper 50s to low 60s, in the most recent national surveys from Reuters/Ipsos, AP/NORC, and Quinnipiac University. A CNN poll conducted March 26–30 and released Wednesday indicated Trump had a 35%-64% approval/disapproval rating.

An average of the most recent national surveys gauging the president’s standing puts Trump just above 40%, with his disapproval in the upper 50s.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL SHOWS ON THE WAR WITH IRAN

While Trump’s base remains extremely supportive of the president and the war, much of the slippage is coming from within the GOP, specifically those who are considered non-MAGA Republicans.

“I do see in the last couple of surveys an edging down…close to a double-digit movement,” veteran Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helps run the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson, said, pointing to declining support for Trump among non-MAGA Republicans.

Fueling Trump’s decline appears to be the surge in gas prices.

The average price of gasoline in the U.S. topped $4 per gallon on Tuesday, according to national averages from AAA and GasBuddy, for the first time in four years.

FOX BUSINESS: GAS PRICES TOP $4 PER GALLON

The military attacks by the U.S. and Israel have resulted in the deaths of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials, and the decimation of the country’s military.

In response, Iran has targeted energy facilities with missile and drone attacks in a number of Persian Gulf nations. It has also made the Strait of Hormuz nearly impassable to commercial shipping, bringing roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply to a halt and sending global fuel prices sharply higher.

That has only exacerbated Trump’s polling woes when it comes to his performance on the economy, amid public dissatisfaction with high prices and the cost of living.

A spotlight on inflation helped fuel sweeping victories by Trump and Republicans in the 2024 elections, when they won back the White House and Senate and successfully defended their slim House majority.

DEMOCRATS TARGET TRUMP, GOP, OVER SURING GAS PRICES 

But a laser focus on affordability by Democrats, amid persistent inflation, has fueled a slew of victories and overperformances in 2025’s off-year elections and in special elections in the more than 14 months since Trump returned to the White House.

According to the Fox News poll, 80% of respondents said they were concerned about gas prices, and 86% concerned about inflation and high prices. And the CNN survey spotlighted that the president’s approval rating for handling the economy sank to 31%, Trump’s lowest level ever in their polling.

The White House says the surge in prices is temporary.

“When Operation Epic Fury is complete, gas prices will plummet back to the multiyear lows American drivers enjoyed before these short-term disruptions,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Tuesday.

Leavitt emphasized that “President Trump remains committed to fully unleashing American energy dominance, lowering costs, and putting more money back in the pockets of hardworking American families.”

OIL HAS SURGED SINCE THE IRAN CONFLICT BEGAN, BUT GAS PRICES MAY NOT BE DONE RISING

The gas price surge is giving Democrats more political ammunition to target the GOP.

“BREAKING: National Gas Prices Skyrocket to $4 Per Gallon,” read the headline from an email Tuesday morning from the Democratic National Committee.

The House Democrats’ campaign committee last week launched digital ads showing prices at the pump rising and an image saying “D.C. Republicans Did That!” Sources say to expect another round of ads on gas prices in the coming weeks.

But Democrats have their own polling problems, as the party’s brand image has cratered to historic lows in a slew of polls over the past year.

Shaw, pointing to the so-called double-haters, voters who disapprove of both Trump and the Democrats, said that group hasn’t “really swung dramatically to the Democrats” as the midterms approach.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas emphasized in a recent Fox News Digital interview that, in his opinion, Trump’s “decision to launch this military action is the most consequential decision” of his presidency.

Such perceptions only increase what’s at stake when Trump addresses the nation in prime time.

“The American people want to hear what the off-ramp for the war is and when it will end,” Dan Eberhart, an oil drilling chief executive officer and prominent Republican donor told Fox News Digital.

Eberhart, who is supportive of the president, said: “Trump’s base is with him, but many ordinary Americans feel the war is unnecessary. Tonight is Trump’s opportunity to explain why this war matters to everyday Americans.”

President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that Iran may be seeking a ceasefire, but analysts say real power lies with hardline figures inside the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including newly prominent Commander Ahmad Vahidi.

Trump did not name the Iranian figure he was referring to, but his comment likely pointed to President Masoud Pezeshkian, writing: “Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE! We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”

Experts caution, however, that Iran’s president does not control decisions of war and peace.  

“He clearly does not have the authority to turn on or turn off a major military conflict with the United States,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP’S IRAN STRATEGY SHOWCASES ‘DOCTRINE OF UNPREDICTABILITY’ AMID STRIKE THREATS AND SUDDEN PAUSE

Instead, analysts say real power lies with senior figures tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including Vahidi, Parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and security official Mohammad Zolghadr, all of whom operate within overlapping centers of influence.

Attention is turning to the new terror chief seen as an extremist pulling strings, Vahidi — a longtime Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander whose reemergence highlights a broader shift underway inside Iran’s leadership.

Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, warned that even when Iran signals interest in a “ceasefire,” it may not reflect a Western understanding of the term. 

He pointed to the concept of “hudna,” describing it as “a ceasefire with deception — they stop when they are weak, rebuild their strength, and then attack again, whether against Israel or the United States.” 

Sabti added that such pauses can become “a cycle of violence that does not end,” driven by ideological motivations, and should not be interpreted as a genuine end to hostilities.

From covert operations to global attacks

At the center of that uncertainty is Vahidi, the new Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander. 

“He is a very violent man and belongs to a generation that fought in guerrilla warfare,” Sabti told Fox News Digital.

Sabti described Vahidi as part of an early cadre of Iranian operatives who built ties with militant groups in Lebanon before and after the 1979 revolution, relationships that later became central to Iran’s regional strategy. Some accounts suggest Vahidi trained in camps linked to Palestinian and Lebanese factions in southern Lebanon, helping lay the groundwork for Iran’s long-standing alliance with Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah. 

DESTROY THE REGIME’S POWER WITHOUT OCCUPYING IRAN: A SMARTER WAR PLAN

Vahidi rose through the ranks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and went on to serve as commander of its elite Quds Force in the 1990s, a unit responsible for overseas operations.

He has been linked to some of the deadliest attacks attributed to Iranian-backed networks abroad, including the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

Sabti said Vahidi was also accused of maintaining connections with al Qaeda figures following the Sept. 11 attacks, reflecting what he described as Iran’s willingness to cooperate with groups targeting Western and Israeli interests.

Despite later holding positions that appeared political or bureaucratic, Sabti said Vahidi never truly stepped away from the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s powerful military and intelligence arm, meaning his role remained closely tied to the regime’s security and operational apparatus.

“He always remained part of the Revolutionary Guards — even wearing uniform,” he said. “That’s common in Iran. Even when they move into politics, they stay within the force.”

Sabti also pointed to Vahidi’s alleged role in suppressing Kurdish uprisings in northwestern Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, underscoring his longstanding involvement in internal security operations. 

HEGSETH REVEALS COVERT VISIT TO TROOPS FIGHTING IN OPERATION EPIC FURY

A system driven by power, not position

Vahidi’s renewed prominence comes as Iran’s internal structure appears increasingly fragmented, with authority concentrated in overlapping and sometimes competing networks.

“It’s not clear how coordinated either the military or political actions of the government of the Islamic Republic is today,” Ben Taleblu said.

He described Iran as “a system of men, not a system of laws,” where personal ties and informal influence often outweigh formal titles.

That dynamic has intensified as the war continues. 

“We are seeing the IRGC ascendancy… across a host of Iranian political and security institutions,” he said.

“This IRGC ascendancy will mean a more crass Islamic Republic, but it comes at a time when this regime is militarily less capable than ever before,” he added.

More power, less restraint

Sabti said Vahidi may now be more influential than other prominent figures in Tehran, including parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei.

“In my view, he is more dominant right now, even if they are coordinated. This is not a time for internal competition,” Sabti said.

He warned that Vahidi’s rise could further harden Iran’s posture.

“He brings even more radicalization into the system and may not want to stop the war, because it serves the interests of the Revolutionary Guards to continue,” Sabti said.

“They could become masters of the region if the United States folds — and that is very much in his interest.”

Trump’s suggestion that Iran is seeking a ceasefire has raised hopes of a potential diplomatic opening, but experts caution that such signals may not reflect a unified position inside Iran. 

“The question is what was shared with President Trump genuine, or is it wheeling and dealing of just one ambitious person?” Ben Taleblu said.

“Pezeshkian clearly does not have the authority to turn on or turn off a major military conflict with the United States,” Ben Taleblu said.

That leaves open the possibility that any outreach could be tactical, fragmented, or even contradictory.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

For 47 days, Democrats have refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and parts of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without sweeping reforms. President Donald Trump is now considering a move that could make both agencies shutdown-proof for the rest of his second term. 

The president is asking top Republicans to draft a budget reconciliation package funding ICE and CBP that could pass both chambers without any Democratic support.

“We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We will not allow them to hurt the families of these Great Patriots by defunding them.”

The president added that he wants the legislation on his desk by June 1.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES ERUPT OVER SENATE GOP, WHITE HOUSE DEAL AMID SAVE ACT FIGHT

The budget reconciliation push comes as Republican efforts to fund ICE and the Border Patrol through regular order have stalled in the Senate due to widespread opposition from Democrats.

With the Senate’s 60-vote legislative threshold in place, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., effectively has veto power over DHS appropriations if he keeps his caucus in line.

The budget reconciliation process would allow Republicans to steer around Democratic opposition and pass a DHS funding bill at a simple majority threshold. Republicans narrowly passed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act using reconciliation in June 2025 after months of intraparty squabbling.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., quickly endorsed the proposal in a joint statement released Wednesday.

The GOP leaders said DHS would be funded along “two parallel tracks,” meaning that ICE and the Border Patrol would receive an influx of money through reconciliation while the rest of DHS would be funded through the normal appropriations process.

“We cannot allow Democrats to any longer put the safety of the American public at risk through their open border policies, so we are taking that off the table,” Johnson and Thune wrote.

The GOP leaders added that they will seek three years of immigration enforcement and border security funding, effectively preventing Democrats from using the appropriations process as leverage over the president’s immigration agenda for the remainder of his term.

Though ICE and the Border Patrol received an unprecedented infusion of money through Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill, certain support staff employed by both agencies have not been paid during the seven-week shutdown.

The U.S. Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Secret Service have seen a more significant lapse in appropriations, though Trump took executive action to provide back pay to TSA agents reporting to work during the funding lapse.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS PASS RIVAL DHS PLAN, SETTING UP SENATE FIGHT AS SHUTDOWN SET TO BECOME LONGEST IN HISTORY

A Republican aide told Fox News Digital the Senate could pass a bill funding the non-immigration parts of DHS via unanimous consent as soon as Thursday morning during a planned pro forma session. The measure would then go to the House for consideration.

The anticipated vote comes after House GOP leadership rejected a Senate-passed deal on Friday including similar language, citing their objections to funding immigration enforcement outside the normal appropriations process.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., indicated to reporters Monday that Trump would ultimately get behind the Senate’s preferred approach. 

“The Democrats can’t create another shutdown like they did this time,” Hoeven said, if the DHS budget reconciliation bill were to be signed into law.

The North Dakota lawmaker also disputed that a reconciliation package would take several months to put together.

“We’ll get it done as quick as you can,” Hoeven said. “I hope it’s certainly not months.”

A second reconciliation package could prove more difficult in an election year when lawmakers will have to identify spending cuts to pay for the border security and immigration funding. The strategy could also extend the funding lapse for ICE and the Border Patrol for several more months.

Amid both chambers’ planned two-week recesses, Trump told the New York Post on Tuesday he is considering calling Congress back to Washington to find a solution to the DHS shutdown.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday that a “skinny reconciliation bill” funding the department would pass both chambers once Congress resumes session in mid-April if a deal has not been reached.

House GOP leadership has previously voiced skepticism about funding immigration enforcement through a budget reconciliation package. Some conservatives have also complained about the precedent of letting Democrats decide which agencies receive funding through the normal appropriations process.

“The problem is that what they’re doing is they’re placing the burden on the Republican Party entirely to make sure that we have border security funding and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, because they’re going to try to force it into a reconciliation bill,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on Friday. “That’s a very difficult task. It is a high risk gamble for us to assume that we could do that.”