Senate Republicans, Democrats clash in rare floor fight over ICE, DHS funding

The Senate hearing erupted Wednesday as Republicans and Democrats squabbled over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and one thing became clear: neither side was close to reaching an agreement.

As senators gathered behind closed doors just feet away from the chamber, party leaders accused each other of refusing to negotiate on reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); This was the most important sticking point in the dispute.

“You can cry about it. You can whine about it. You lost the election because of it,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. “The White House dealt with you in good faith. You want to drag this out until you encounter another incident, hoping that your activists will have a viral moment while they are on the streets confronting ICE agents in shelter zones.”

So far, Senate Republicans have handed final say over any deal to the White House, but wrangling between both sides has ground to a halt.

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While Republicans want to reopen DHS in the short term, negotiations on reforms to ICE continue. Democrats, meanwhile, have introduced a funding proposal that would improve immigration enforcement but reopen other key functions, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

At the heart of the dispute is whether both sides will agree to formal negotiations. Republicans say Democrats ignored their meeting offers, while Democrats claim they did not receive an invitation.

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Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., tried to get a vote on Democrats’ DHS funding bill, which would provide funding for ICE and CBP. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

“We’re here today trying to close a deal that will allow us to fund all the agencies that Democrats say they want funded through ICE reforms,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “And I saw the White House proposal page, and they went so much further, so much further than any Democrat that I thought was possible.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DY) said the demands for reform are clear; but Republicans have drawn red lines against proposals that would require ICE agents to obtain judicial warrants and reveal their identities, citing concerns about the disclosure of personal information.

“But ultimately they rejected it, probably because the right wing didn’t like it,” Schumer said. “So let’s fund everything except ICE and Border Patrol.”

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Senator Katie Britt, a Republican from Alabama, attends a Senate Border Security and Immigration Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The fight on the floor is Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. and was sparked by his attempt to force a vote on a DHS spending bill that would eliminate funding for ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

He argued that Democrats would not be “blackmailed” into funding immigration enforcement following the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, who were shot and killed by ICE agents in Minnesota.

“I’m willing to talk to people, but I’m not willing to sit in a room, drink coffee, give a few things away and have Stephen Miller override everything we agreed on in the room,” Murray said.

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There has been little movement in the stalemate over DHS. The White House made its last offer about two weeks ago, and the Democrats rejected the offer.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., tapped by Thune to lead DHS negotiations for Senate Republicans, argued that Murray and Senate Democrats’ latest proposal would “effectively fund our law enforcement.”

“Look, we’re not going back to ‘defund the police,'” Britt said. “We’re not doing that.”