Senate Democrats reach deal to avert partial government shutdown | US Senate
Senators agreed to advance a massive spending bill package to avert a partial government shutdown scheduled to begin Saturday.
Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer’s office confirmed that the agreement calls for a funding bill for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be separated from a package of other funding bills, and that the agreement would fund DHS for two weeks at current levels.
The deal will avoid a partial shutdown that would affect many government functions. But that won’t stop a temporary cut in DHS funding because any changes to the DHS funding bill would have to be approved by the House of Representatives, which is out of session until Monday. The impact of such an error was not immediately apparent.
In a statement on Truth Social, Donald Trump approved a spending deal between Senate Democrats and Republicans, writing: “Republicans and Democrats in Congress came together to fund the vast majority of the Government through September while also expanding the Department of Homeland Security.”
“I hope both Republicans and Democrats will deliver the much-needed bipartisan ‘YES’ vote,” Trump added.
Democrats have so far refused to support funding for DHS unless it includes reforms to federal agents involved in Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Earlier Thursday, a key vote in the Senate to prevent a partial government shutdown failed. But a Senate aide confirmed that Democrats are negotiating a deal with Republicans that could result in a short-term measure covering Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and DHS, which oversees the US border patrol, and could pass other funding bills.
The goal will be to buy time for further talks on Democrats’ demands for changes to immigration enforcement, including ending federal agents wearing masks, introducing a code of conduct and independent investigations of violations following the deaths of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.
Before the vote, Schumer said, “Republicans in Congress cannot allow this violent status quo to continue. They must work with Democrats on legislation, real legislation, and strong legislation to rein in ICE.”
“Democrats are ready to pass five bipartisan funding bills in the Senate, and we’re ready to pass them today. We’re ready to fund 96% of the federal government today, but the DHS bill still needs a lot of work.”
Republican Senate majority leader John Thune had asked the chamber to pass a package of six bills that would provide funding through departments in September, including homeland security, defense, labor and health and human services. The House approved the measures last week, but Democratic senators rejected the DHS funding bill after Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota’s largest city on Saturday.
Schumer demanded that the DHS bill be set aside so that reforms to agent conduct could be included in the law, but Thune refused, setting the stage for Thursday’s failed vote; This required at least some Democratic support to clear the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
All 47 Democratic senators and seven Republican senators voted against advancing the package. Thune also voted no to reconsider the measure in the future.
A Senate aide confirmed that the two sides were discussing a deal to fund DHS in the short term and the rest of the government through the fiscal year, but emphasized that talks remained fluid.
Meanwhile, signs emerged that Republicans were seeking compromise, with Trump accepting negotiations at the White House cabinet meeting. “I think we’re getting close,” he said, adding: “I hope we don’t have a shutdown.”
A White House official said the president “wants the government to remain open, and the administration is working with both parties to ensure that the American people do not have to endure another shutdown.”
Before Democrats announced their conditions Wednesday, Thune told reporters: “We’re looking forward to hearing what their demands are, what their demands are, what their demands are. I think the administration is willing to sit down with them and have a discussion, maybe have a discussion on how we move forward.”
At a news conference in Minneapolis on Thursday morning, Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan said the administration “recognizes that certain improvements can and should be made” to the ongoing immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, but did not specify what those would look like or when they would be implemented.
“People out there don’t like what ICE is doing, if you want some laws reformed, take it to Congress,” Homan said. “They enforce laws passed by Congress and signed by the president. The same laws were on the books of the last six presidents I worked for.”
With the House of Representatives out of session, funding for DHS seems likely to run out at least by the weekend. This is unlikely to stop ICE’s deportation operations because the agency received tens of billions of dollars under the One Big Good Bill Act enacted last year and the White House could also order its employees to work through the shutdown.
