GOP fractures deepen: Thune blindsides Johnson in DHS shutdown fight

The Republican Party's internal warfare over the DHS shutdown has exposed a stunning divide between Senate and House leadership, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) cutting a deal that left House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) completely out of the loop — and fuming.
According to MS NOW's Mychael Schnell, Thune won the political war, but both leaders emerged from the funding battle bruised and bloodied, with Donald Trump wielding his unpredictable power to destabilize the process at will.
Early last Friday morning, the Senate unanimously backed a compromise to fund most of DHS while leaving the most contentious provisions for a future reconciliation bill. It appeared to be a workable solution. At 2:41 a.m., Thune sounded cautiously optimistic about Trump's support.
Then everything fell apart.
Minutes after the Senate passed its bill, Johnson called Trump to say his House conference would reject the deal. Later that morning, Johnson told his members that Thune had cut them out entirely.
"They cut off communications with us last night," Johnson said on the Friday conference call. "The Senate did this without informing me or even all of their members or the White House. No one was involved."
But Thune's account contradicted Johnson's narrative. The Senate leader said he had texted with Johnson overnight, going "back and forth a little bit" about the deal. Multiple sources confirmed Thune had given Johnson advance notice, suggesting Thune was actually shocked by Johnson's sudden opposition — not the other way around.
House Republicans were livid about the method of notification. One GOP member, speaking anonymously, complained that Thune had texted Johnson instead of calling about a deal of such magnitude.
"When you do something like that, you don't f------ text. You pick up the phone and call," the Republican said.
The clash exposes fundamentally different political realities facing the two leaders. Thune operates in the Senate, where the 60-vote threshold forces bipartisan compromise and gives him flexibility to cut deals. Johnson commands a paper-thin House majority under constant threat of revolt — with hard-liners wielding the motion to vacate as a weapon that could cost him his job.
"There are different dynamics," one Senate Republican explained. "Johnson has to contend more with his right flank. Thune has to deal with senators in the middle. They're playing to different bases."
But both leaders now face an unpredictable third force: a president whose shifting positions can upend the entire process overnight, leaving everyone scrambling.