Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., holds a news conference about the budget process that Republicans hope will fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) As we reflect on the just-ended Department of Homeland Security funding impasse, we face a familiar problem. Such shutdowns occur because Congress struggles to assemble 60 votes in the Senate to pass contentious funding bills — in this case, those supporting core immigration enforcement functions. Although the solution of shifting those funding decisions into the budget reconciliation process may have broken the stalemate, the long-term ramifications of that decision could potentially break something far more fundamental. If the Senate cannot pass appropriations bills under its current rules, the answer is to address the rules, not to bypass the appropriations process altogether.…