Senators are scrambling to avoid a partial government shutdown later this week after Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal agent has members of both parties debating what guardrails they can place on President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.
There’s no deal in sight.
The Homeland Security appropriations measure is a part of a multi-bill funding package the House sent over to the Senate last Thursday before leaving town for recess, and which the Senate now must clear before 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 31 — or spark funding lapses across multiple agencies. Making changes to any portion of that package at this point would jeopardize its chances for being signed into law in time.
But recent developments in Minnesota have Democrats calling for changes to the DHS measure. Among their list of demands are requiring judicial warrants for immigration arrests, mandating federal agents identify themselves, requiring DHS to cooperate with state and local investigations and limiting the “mission creep of federal agencies.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants the DHS bill stripped out of the larger funding package entirely and renegotiated.
Republicans are reluctant to engage, taking the first step Monday to set up an initial vote on the package Thursday. Instead, GOP senators are dangling alternatives that would let them avoid having to tweak the package at the eleventh hour, floating new potential executive actions or a commitment to passing a separate piece of legislation that would address shared priorities.
Democrats aren’t biting. Many believe they have leverage as Americans recoil at the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics in Minnesota and elsewhere. Plenty of Democrats are also skeptical the administration can be trusted to bring accountability to DHS operations or that standalone legislation reining in the department would ever make it through the House.
“My options are to do nothing or to recognize that two U.S. citizens were recently … executed by federal agents,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) told reporters Monday. “We need to at least bring some level of pressure on DHS or on our Republican colleagues to explain to the American public why we are going to continue funding this without any changes.”
Democrats are also increasingly calling for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s impeachment amid the fallout. Noem will testify March 3 for an oversight hearing before Senate Judiciary, according to an aide for Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), where questions about her leadership are sure to arise.
Senate Republicans could still have the upper hand. A group of conservatives, including Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), is vowing to oppose any effort to strip out DHS funding. And due to the time crunch ahead of Friday’s shutdown deadline, a single senator can block an attempt to quickly amend the legislation.
Privately, many Republicans believe any off-ramp will need to come from the White House, anyway, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose private thinking — and the administration said Monday it wants to see the funding package passed as written.
Over in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership circle is still weighing its options but there are no plans to bring the chamber back early from recess, according to three people granted anonymity to comment on private planning.
Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
