Shootings could bring partial shutdown
Leaders says Dems won't back DHS funidng bill
By: Zachary Schermele
USA Today
WASHINGTON - Prominent Democrats have been insisting as a January 30 [2026] federal funding deadline crept closer that they likely wouldn't risk another government shutdown, and all the pain hat comes with it.
.....
Minneapolis has changed their minds.
..... The latest deadly altercation in the city is threatening to imperil an 11th-hour scramble in Congress to get the last of its appropriations bills passed in less than a week. and it's prompting calls to strip pout a Department of Homeland Security funding measure for a separate vote amid a spiking risk of a partial shutdown on the heels of last year's [2025] record-breaking crisis.
.....
Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said in a statement after a federal agent shot and killed a 37-year-old man that Senate Democrats won't support keeping the government fully open while also funding DHS.
..... "What's happening in Minnesota is appalling - and unacceptable in any American city," he said. "Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriation bill if the DHS funding is included."
New lines in the sand
..... The fraught political moment - shaped by the killing of two Minnesotans by federal agents in less than three weeks - is underscoring just how central pushing back on President Donald Trump's immigration policies has become to the Democratic Party especially with the midterm elections approaching in November. [2026]
.....
It's drawing new lines in the sand showing how far lawmakers are willing to go to prioritize fighting over immigration amid escalating federal raids - even if doing so jeopardize major concessions they've won from Republicans on other central issues, such as health care and education.
..... ""Senate Dems should block [Immigration and Customs enforcement] funding this week," said Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, in a social media post after the January 24 [2024] shooting. "We can and must stop this."
.... After canceling votes for a day due to the snowstorm, senators will have just a matter of days to approve a massive spending package. Among the must-pass bills will be DHS' annual funding measure, which includes money for ICE and U.S. customs and Border protection.
..... When the DHS appropriations bill, which was originally introduced with bipartisan support, was first announced January 20, [2026] even one of its two main Democratic negotiators admitted it wouldn't satisfy many elements of her party. After an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good January 7, [2026] Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriation Committee, acknowledged that her colleagues "maybe dissatisfied with any bill that funds ICE."
..... "The bill takes several steps in the right direction, such as cutting ICE enforcement and removal operations and reducing the number of detention beds, but it does not include broader reforms Democrats proposed," the Connecticut lawmaker said.
....
The bill also would impose new restrictions on DHS, including requiring more deescalation training for ICE and CBP agents, implementing more oversight of detention facilities, and restriction how the agency can spend money.
.....
For many Democrats, including DeLauro, that ultimately wasn't enough to get behind it. After days of intra-party fuming, she voted against the bill she helped craft.
..... Still, the measure passed the House of Representatives with the marginal support of seven Democrats before being tucked into one giant funding package and sent over to the Senate. where it hold the Senate majority with 52 seats while Democrats have 47, including two independent senators who caucus with Democrats.
Political dynamics shift
..... While Senate Democrats were initially frustrated by the DHS bill, many still seemed inclined to vote for the entire appropriations package rather than risk a partial shutdown. But those politician dynamics shifted on January 24, [2026] when a federal agent shot and killed a 37-year-old man, identified by Minnesota's Attorney general as an intensive care unit nurse named Alex Pretti.
.....
Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, a top lawmaker considered by many to potentially be Schumer's eventual successor as Democratic leader, said shortly thereafter he's vote against funding DHS. So did Serrano Mark Warner, D-Virginia.
..... "I am voting against funding for DHS until and unless more controls are put in place to hold ICE accountable," Schatz posted. "these repeated incidents of violence across the country are unlawful, needlessly escalatory, and making all of us less safe.
..... Senator Catherine Cortex Masto, D-Nevada, who case a crucial vote to reopen the government last fall, [2025] called on Senate leaders to strip out the DHS bill, keeping the resist of the spending agreements while coming up with a compromise. It's unclear how amendable Senate Republicans would be to such a move.
..... The more progressive wings of the Senate Democrats caucus didn't wast any time encouraging their colleagues to take a stand against Trump.
.....
"I'm a 'hell no,' " said Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, "not a penny more for ICE. We should not fund this terror."