Until Saturday, Senate Democrats appeared poised to pass a government spending package that would fund all remaining federal agencies through October — including the controversial Department of Homeland Security.
Then a federal immigration agent fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minnesota.
Now, key Democratic senators are publicly opposing any bill that would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement without new restrictions, sharply increasing the odds of a partial government shutdown just days before the Jan. 30 deadline.
With less than a week to go before funding expires, days before the Senate is set to consider a six-bill appropriations package, and hours after Pretti was shot, top Democrats emerged Saturday vowing to block any additional money for ICE.
Most notably, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Saturday night that he would oppose any government spending package that includes funding for DHS — a move that could derail the six-bill package covering the remaining agencies that have not yet been funded.
“What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling — and unacceptable in any American city. 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 DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE,” Schumer said in a statement. “I will vote no.”
Schumer added that Senate Democrats would not provide the votes needed to advance the appropriations package if it includes DHS funding — a dramatic reversal for a bill that had appeared on track to pass the Senate later this week.
Now, a funding lapse that had looked highly unlikely appears entirely plausible, just months after the longest-ever government shutdown in history.
How Senate Republicans will respond remains unclear. The Senate is still scheduled to vote on the six-bill package, which would fund more than four-fifths of the federal government. But if DHS remains part of the deal — and Schumer follows through — the entire measure could be jeopardized.
Republicans could attempt to strip DHS funding from the package, but doing so would require the House to return from recess and pass a revised bill — a difficult lift with little time to spare and a massive winter storm already shortening the legislative week.
The DHS bill would provide slightly more than $10 billion for ICE for 2026, matching the level it received in 2025. But that’s on top of $75 billion that was included for the agency in the GOP’s reconciliation bill that was enacted into law last summer.
Democrats were already divided on the DHS funding bill. Only seven Democrats voted for the bill in the House earlier this week — 206 Democrats voted “no” — but in the Senate, there didn’t seem to be an appetite for even a partial shutdown, though a handful of Senate Democrats had already come out against approving any DHS funding.
Democrats were taking solace in the fact that, in the new spending bill, funding for ICE’s enforcement and removal operations would face an effective cut of about $115 million, or a 2% reduction from the previous year. Republicans had also agreed to set aside $20 million for body cameras for DHS law enforcement.
But after videos of Pretti’s shooting circulated Saturday, several moderate Senate Democrats joined progressives in opposing any new DHS funding without major changes.
“Trump’s endless empowerment of federal immigration agents has resulted in yet another senseless killing. This brutal crackdown has to end. I cannot and will not vote to fund DHS while this administration continues these violent federal takeovers of our cities,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who represents many federal workers, wrote on X.
In the clearest sign of the growing opposition to dollars for DHS, Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, both Democrats from Nevada, announced they’d vote against any government funding package that provides money for DHS.
The Nevada senators were among the eight Democrats who broke from their party and voted to advance a government funding bill in November, helping to end the historic shutdown. Given that history, they were seen as two likely “yes” votes to advance the six-bill package. But now, they’re telling Republicans not to count on their support. “As a member of the U.S. Senate, I have the responsibility to hold the Trump Administration accountable when I see abuses of power — like we are seeing from ICE right now,” Rosen said in a statement. “That is why I’ll be voting against any government funding package that contains the bill that funds this agency, until we have guardrails in place to curtail these abuses of power and ensure more accountability and transparency.” Cortez Masto, who voted with GOP senators more than a dozen times to end the shutdown last year, said she also couldn’t get behind the DHS funding bill. “The Trump Administration and Kristi Noem are putting undertrained, combative federal agents on the streets with no accountability. They are oppressing Americans and are at odds with local law enforcement,” she wrote in a statement. “This is clearly not about keeping Americans safe, it’s brutalizing U.S. citizens and law-abiding immigrants. I will not support the current Homeland Security funding bill.” Republicans need Democratic support, not only to pass the bill, but also to hold a vote on time. At least seven Democrats would need to join the 53 Republican senators to break the 60-vote filibuster threshold and advance the funding package. And thanks to that winter storm, senators will face an unusually tight timeline to pass the package, arriving in Washington Tuesday night ahead of a Wednesday procedural vote. Unanimous agreement will likely be necessary to set a final vote ahead of Friday’s deadline. If senators don’t pass the same exact package the House passed, including Homeland Security funds, either the House would have to return to Washington from a planned one-week recess, or there would be a partial government shutdown. Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., have spent the last two days urging colleagues to vote against the Homeland Security funding measure, according to a Senate source. Murphy is the top Democrat on the subcommittee that negotiates a bill to fund DHS, but he’s spent several months opposing bills that have come out of the Appropriations Committee. As the deadline nears, House Democrats are also pressing Senate colleagues to follow their lead. “This coming week my colleagues in the United States Senate need to vote against additional funding for Trump’s ICE and CBP,” said Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “People have been shot and killed in the streets of Minneapolis, and we all know it’s got to stop.”
Jack Fitzpatrick covers Congress for MS NOW. He previously reported for Bloomberg Government, Morning Consult and National Journal. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW. Recommended
