Bipartisan legislation to fund a broad swath of the government and avert a shutdown at the end of the week appeared to be in grave danger on Saturday, as key Senate Democrats vowed to oppose it after federal agents shot and killed a Minneapolis resident.
The rapidly escalating opposition to the measure, which includes $64.4 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, including $10 billion for ICE, amplified the likelihood of a partial government shutdown at the end of the month. The legislation requires the support of Democrats to muster the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster and advance in the Senate.
“Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the D.H.S. funding bill is included,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said in a statement, calling what is unfolding in Minnesota “appalling” and “unacceptable in any American city.”
Recognizing the depth of Democratic outrage, Senate Republicans immediately began examining whether they could separate the homeland security funding from the rest of the package and preserve the bulk of what had been a bipartisan deal to fund a large chunk of the government. The measure also funds the Pentagon and State Department, as well as health, education, labor and transportation programs.
“I’m exploring all options,” said Senator Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who is the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, adding that she had been in touch with Senator John Thune, the South Dakota Republican and majority leader. “We have five other bills that are really vital, and I’m relatively confident they would pass.”
A planned vote on the package next week had already promised to pose an agonizing dilemma for many Democrats. They have been eager to avoid another shutdown but have grown increasingly infuriated by the scenes of chaos and violence coming out of Minnesota and facing intense pressure not to fund ICE. Some had already announced they would not support the package as a result, but a substantial bloc had been expected to swallow their reservations and back it.
But hours after the killing on Saturday, a flood of Democrats who had previously been seen as likely to support the deal declared that they simply could not do so.
“The Trump administration and Kristi Noem are putting undertrained, combative federal agents on the streets with no accountability,” Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat of Nevada, said in a statement announcing her opposition. “They are oppressing Americans and are at odds with local law enforcement. This is clearly not about keeping Americans safe. It’s brutalizing U.S. citizens and law-abiding immigrants.”
Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, wrote on social media: “I cannot and will not vote to fund D.H.S. while this administration continues these violent federal takeovers of our cities.”
The spending measure that senators are set to take up includes six bills to fund the government that Democrats and Republicans negotiated, and that the House already passed.
The House considered the homeland security portion separately, given the depth of Democratic opposition, and all but seven House Democrats voted against it.
The measure rejects President Trump’s request for an $840 million increase in funding for ICE, instead leaving it roughly the same as the previous year, when the agency was operating off funds provided in a stopgap measure.
While other departments and agencies would most likely shutter if Senate Democrats filibuster the spending package, ICE could potentially tap the $75 billion Republicans allocated to it in their marquee domestic policy bill. That legislation largely contained tax cuts and spending reductions for programs including Medicaid and food assistance, but also included $190 billion for the Department of Homeland Security.
During negotiations on the homeland security bill, Republicans rejected a series of proposals by Democrats to rein in ICE, including barring funds from being used to to detain or deport U.S. citizens. Democrats succeeded in winning the addition of $20 million for purchasing body cameras for ICE agents.
They also won the inclusion of a provision to reduce funding for Ms. Noem’s office by $29.5 million and require the secretary to pay for any travel on government aircraft — in this case private jets the Coast Guard bought — out of the budget for her own office.
Ms. Collins, who called for an investigation into the shooting, noted that the spending measure also includes some new guardrails on ICE, included money for de-escalation training and added authority for the agency’s inspector general to investigate disputed accounts of ICE activities. Those provisions would be lost if Congress ended up not approving the new bill, she said.
But a number of Senate Democrats said on Saturday that those measures fell far short of what was necessary in the current moment.
“I am voting against funding for D.H.S. until and unless more controls are put in place to hold ICE accountable,” said Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, a member of the Appropriations Committee. “These repeated incidents of violence across the country are unlawful, needlessly escalatory and making all of us less safe.”
Mr. Schumer also said he would vote no.
“Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the D.H.S. bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE,” he said.
Catie Edmondson covers Congress for The Times.
The post Democrats Vow Not to Fund ICE After Shooting, Imperiling Spending Deal appeared first on New York Times.
