Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) urged Senate leadership to remove the Department of Homeland Security funding bill from the broader spending package in hopes of avoiding a partial shutdown.
DHS: Federal agent shoots and kills man in Minneapolis
A man has died after being shot by a DHS worker, according to Minneapolis officials.
WASHINGTON – As the Jan. 30 federal funding deadline approaches, prominent Democratic lawmakers have insisted there is no risk of another government shutdown and all the pain that comes with it.
The city of Minneapolis may be changing its mind.
The latest deadly altercation in the city threatens to jeopardize an 11th-hour battle in Congress to pass a final spending bill within a week. There are also growing calls from some Democratic lawmakers to reverse the Department of Homeland Security funding measure and hold another vote rather than risk a partial shutdown after last year’s record crisis.
This difficult political moment, shaped by the killings of two Minnesotans by federal agents in less than three weeks, underscores how central the Democratic Party is to push back on President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies, especially as the midterm elections approach in November.
The intensification of federal raids is raising new questions about the extent to which lawmakers are willing to prioritize fighting immigration, even if doing so jeopardizes major concessions won from Republicans on other key issues such as health care and education.
“Senate Democrats should block funding for ICE this week,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said in a social media post after the Jan. 24 shooting. “We can and must stop this.”
After canceling voting for a day because of an impending snowstorm, senators are expected to approve a huge spending package within days next week. Among the must-pass bills is an annual funding measure for the Department of Homeland Security that includes funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
When the originally bipartisan DHS spending bill was first announced on January 20, even one of the two lead Democratic negotiators acknowledged that the bill would not satisfy many elements of the party. On January 7, after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, a mother of three, during an argument, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, acknowledged that her colleagues “may be unhappy with any bill that funds ICE.”
“While the bill takes some steps in the right direction, such as reducing ICE enforcement and removal operations and reducing the number of detention beds, it does not include the broader reforms proposed by Democrats,” the Connecticut congressman said.
The bill would also impose new restrictions on DHS, including increased de-escalation training for ICE and CBP officers, increased oversight of detention facilities, and limits on how the agency spends its money.
For many Democrats, including DeLauro himself, it ultimately wasn’t enough to support it. After days of internal party conflict, she voted against the bill she helped write.
Still, the bill passed the House with narrow support from seven Democrats and then goes to the Senate in a huge funding package, where it will need 60 votes to survive. Republicans hold a majority in the Senate with 53 seats, while Democrats hold 47 seats, including two independent senators who caucus with Democrats.
Although Senate Democrats were initially dissatisfied with the DHS bill, they still appear more inclined to vote in favor of the entire spending package than risk a partial shutdown. But those political dynamics changed on January 24, when a Border Patrol agent shot and killed a 37-year-old man. The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office identified him as an intensive care unit nurse named Alex Preti.
After the incident, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tweeted, “ICE GET OUT OF MINNESOTA NOW,” but did not directly address the busy week ahead in the Senate.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), the top lawmaker who could become Schumer’s eventual leadership successor, said he would vote against funding DHS. So did Sen. Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia.
“I will vote against funding DHS until and unless further controls are put in place to hold ICE accountable,” Schatz wrote in a post. “Repeated incidents of violence across the country are unlawful, needlessly escalating, and making us all less safe.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who cast a key vote to reopen the government last fall, called on Senate leadership to scrap the DHS bill and offer a compromise while keeping an eye on the rest of the government.
“There is bipartisan agreement on 96% of the budget,” he said in a statement. “We have already passed six funding bills. Let’s pass five remaining bipartisan bills and continue fighting for a Department of Homeland Security that funds critical agencies while preserving the vital role of federal law enforcement in protecting Americans’ constitutional rights and keeping us safe.”
The more progressive wing of the Senate Democratic caucus wasted no time in encouraging their colleagues to stand up to Trump.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said of X: “Congress should not fund this version of ICE.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said, “I’m saying ‘absolutely no,'” adding, “I will not contribute another penny to ICE. We should not be funding this terrorism.”
Zachary Schermele is a Congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and on Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social..
