Biden and House Republicans are locked in a standoff over the border

The Biden administration and Congress are caught in a no-win situation over policy changes and funding at the southern border: the White House unable to enact new policies without additional funds, and House Republicans unwilling to unlock funding without sweeping changes to U.S. immigration policy.

While the Department of Homeland Security has drafted some possible actions that could be taken unilaterally, including plans to place more migrants on a fast track for deportation, those policies have been shelved, at least for now, because DHS lacks the manpower to carry them out, according to three Biden administration officials.

The Biden administration had originally asked Congress for just over $13 billion to boost resources at the border, but after Republicans blocked a bipartisan Senate bill that would have significantly affected immigration and border policy, the national security package cleared by the upper chamber on Tuesday omitted any funding for the border.

President Joe Biden has been in near-daily meetings with top aides about border security for weeks, stressing that the system is “broken” and pushing officials to come up with solutions that don’t require Congress.

“Congress controls the purse strings,” a source involved in the congressional negotiation process told NBC News. “There is no magic pot of money for the administration.”

Two DHS officials tell NBC News that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is forecasting a budget shortfall of over $500 million if Congress continues to fund the government through a continuing resolution without giving ICE or other areas of DHS a boost. At that rate, key areas of ICE operations, including deportation flights and detention, could run out of money and force the