Senate Democrats block DHS funding over immigration tactics | US Senate
Democrats in the US Senate blocked a funding package for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) amid pressure from the Trump administration and ongoing anger over the deaths of two people in Minneapolis.
Thursday’s vote means the department is almost certain to close at midnight on Friday evening; That affects a range of services but leaves Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the target of Democrats’ ire, largely unaffected because it already receives generous federal funding.
While senators voted almost 52 to 47 along party lines on the bill the House passed last month to continue funding DHS, that bill fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster.
The vote came hours after Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s “border czar,” announced he was largely pulling back on his operation in Minneapolis, where emotions remain high following the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by federal agents last month.
Democrats continued their opposition after the White House refused to meet their demands for major reforms to how ICE operates.
Proposed changes included banning agents from wearing ID and body cameras and operating near schools, medical facilities, churches, polling stations, child care facilities and courts.
Democrats also demanded that local and state law enforcement be guaranteed the right to conduct investigations into potential crimes committed by federal authorities, including the use of excessive force.
Republicans supported the idea of body cameras but opposed other proposals that they said would tie agents’ hands.
At a news conference Thursday, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the party wants “common sense” changes to how ICE operates.
“I’ve said from day one that unless there are really strong, meaningful reforms to rein in ICE and stop the violence, Democrats will not have the votes to fund ICE and expand the terrible status quo that exists right now,” he said.
“For weeks, we’ve been pushing for the kind of commonsense reforms that local police and sheriffs across America routinely pursue. Today’s strong vote was a shot at Republicans. Democrats won’t support a blank check for chaos.”
The vote would be unlikely to impede the operations of ICE or Customs and Border Protection (CPB) because the agencies received $75 billion from Congress last year in Donald Trump’s flagship “big, beautiful bill.”
Instead, it will lead to partial shutdowns of agencies like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), and the U.S. Coast Guard.
At a meeting of the Senate’s homeland security committee on Thursday, Oklahoma Republican James Lankford said Democrats’ response to Pretti’s killing, in particular, would have a disproportionate impact.
“My Democratic colleagues are demanding defunding of all DHS, including the Coast Guard, Secret Service, FEMA, and CISA [the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] “The person who manages our cybersecurity … because they are angry about this incident that is under investigation,” he said.
“I understand that these are difficult issues that we need to take the time to talk about, because they are tragic and awful, but they are also thankfully rare. There are thousands of arrests every day that happen by the book.”
