Senate Republicans seem unlikely to budge on funding for the Department of Homeland Security as a partial government shutdown approaches on Friday.
Democrats have called for DHS funding to be held up unless there are serious strings attached related to immigration enforcement amid tensions in Minnesota rising higher after the shooting of Alex Pretti. The House already approved spending bills, but they are not in Washington this week, so changes that would be made would need to be sent to them – likely triggering a shutdown in the interim.
“Democrats want to shut down the government—again—unless ICE is defunded. Not a chance,” the Senate Republicans account posted on Monday morning. “There can be no mob veto on enforcing the law.”
However, much of the funding for the president’s immigration goals was already approved in the One Big Beautiful Bill in July, including more funding for the border and hiring more ICE personnel. Still, many Democrats believe that scrutinizing DHS funding would be necessary to reforming federal immigration operations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has indicated that he will be leading the charge in “rejecting this DHS spending bill,” according to a recent social media post, and he’s called on DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to be fired.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) – a key Democrat who helped end the government shutdown in the fall over the Affordable Care Act subsidies – wants the DHS funding to be “separate” from the five other spending bills to avert another closure and for the House to come back in session as “reforms” to the department are debated, according to Punchbowl News.
Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) posted to X an unofficial list of demands if the DHS bill returns to the House, including ICE and CBP exiting Minneapolis, “full, independent investigation into the killings,” “no more detaining and deporting U.S. Citizens” and no masks for immigration authorities and “mass arrest quotas and warrantless arrests end.”
On Sunday, a White House official told The Daily Wire on background that “Democrats were equal partners in negotiating these bills, which are the product of a bipartisan, collaborative process.”
“Now, after a week spent celebrating their successes in the process, and in the midst of a winter storm, they’re holding emergency response funding hostage to score political points. We hope cooler heads prevail, and the country does not have to endure another damaging shutdown,” the official added.
In addition, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire that a holdup on the department’s funding would create hurdles with emergency management and TSA.
“While politicians in the Senate play games with Americans’ safety, they are blocking vital DHS funding that keeps our country secure and its people safe—from TSA and FEMA to the US Coast Guard and Border Patrol,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “This funding supports national security and critical national emergency operations, including FEMA responses to a historic snowstorm that is affecting 250 million Americans. Washington may stall, but the safety of the American people will not wait.”
The Daily Wire reached out to several GOP lawmakers who have called for an investigation into Pretti’s death, and asked if that has influenced their stance on DHS funding. Sen. Pete Ricketts’ (R-NE) office pointed to his post on X, stating that his “support for funding ICE remains the same” while calling for “prioritized, transparent investigation.”
