The odds of a partial government shutdown appear to be growing as Senate Democrats harden their position against the funding bill megapackage without serious changes to the Department of Homeland Security provisions.
On Tuesday afternoon, CNN congressional correspondent Manu Raju reported on X that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is signaling that “Senate Dems won’t accept WH making changes to ICE on its own to avoid shutdown at week’s end.”
President Donald Trump’s officials proposed this as a compromise in lieu of the DHS funding bill being rewritten to exclude the $10 billion increase in immigration enforcement funding, or to include new reforms like requiring judicial warrants to make immigration arrests.
But Schumer wasn’t moved by this, saying on the Senate floor that “the fix should come from Congress,” because we “can’t trust” the administration to change anything about how ICE or Border Patrol are currently operating.
As recently as last Friday, Republicans were confident that enough Senate Democrats would vote for the DHS bill to ensure its passage, as the caucus was not eager for a redo of last year’s protracted shutdown over extending Affordable Care Act subsidies.
However, the Minneapolis killing of VA intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents reportedly stiffened Democrats’ resolve to oppose the measure. Even Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who is known for often crossing the aisle to support Republican immigration and border policies, is now publicly calling on Trump to remove Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
If enough Democrats hold firm, the GOP would have to split apart the funding bill and send it back to the House for a re-vote, a prospect GOP insiders fear would tear the caucus apart, and which would all but guarantee a temporary shutdown of at least some government agencies.
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