Shutdown Odds Increase

Senate Democrats are vowing to withhold their support for a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the wake of the shooting of Alex Pretti by immigration officials, increasing the risk of a partial government shutdown as a Jan. 30 deadline looms.

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill as part of a House-passed package of government funding bills later this week. 

Last week, the House passed the $1.2 trillion “minibus” to fund several agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and DHS.

The DHS bill passed the lower chamber in a 220–207 vote, with most Democrats voting against it.

Still, the legislation had seemed on track to pass, as leaders in both chambers had signaled a desire to avoid a repetition of last year’s 43-day government shutdown—and had negotiated the bills in advance. 

The fatal shooting of Pretti in Minneapolis by Customs and Border Patrol agents, coming just weeks after the fatal shooting of Renée Nicole Good in Minneapolis, has seemingly changed that. 

In a statement issued a few hours after video of Pretti’s shooting went public, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the incident was “appalling” and vowed that Democrats “will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.” 

The bill, like most legislation, needs 60 votes to overcome the filibuster in the Senate—meaning that it needs the support of at least seven Democrats. Schumer’s position against the bill makes it unlikely that support will materialize.

The DHS funding bill at issue would provide $10 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

It also institutes several reforms to ICE.

The bill would allocate $20 million for the purchase and deployment of body cameras for ICE and other immigration agents engaged in domestic law enforcement, would require standardized uniforms for those agents, and would increase funding for civil liberties oversight of ICE activities.

The bill also mandates expanded training for immigration agents operating within the U.S. interior, with an emphasis on de-escalation. It directs DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to ensure that agents are trained on the First Amendment right to record federal officers during public operations.

The measure would also reduce immigration detention capacity. While the administration requested funding for 50,000 detention beds, the bill would lower the total to 41,500. Funding for enforcement and removal operations would also be reduced by $115 million.

Schumer’s comments indicated that, in the wake of the shooting of Pretti, these reforms don’t go far enough for Democrats.

“Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to [President Donald Trump], the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE,” Schumer said.

Ahead of Pretti’s shooting, some senior Democrats had expressed support for the legislation.

In a statement, Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said that while “there’s a whole lot more I wish these bills would have addressed,” she planned to back the bill.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), meanwhile, had already staked out a position against the bill.

“Where are the funding restrictions … to impose effective safeguards against ICE operations that inflame tensions within our cities, terrorize our communities, and make all of us less safe?” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) wrote in a statement on his website.

Democratic candidates for the Senate in this year’s midterm elections have also spoken out, including Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, who is running for Republican Susan Collins’s Senate seat.

“It’s time for Congress—and Susan Collins—to curtail funding for ICE until they stop their aggressive tactics that are instilling fear and anxiety in people across our state,” Mills wrote on Facebook.

Republicans have defended the funding for ICE and its deportation efforts.

“Passing the full-year DHS appropriations bill is crucial, and Democrats blocking it would only serve to harm the dedicated personnel,” the House Homeland Security Committee’s Republican staff wrote on social media.

“House Democrats voted AGAINST DHS funding, meaning they voted against funding for ICE, Border Patrol, and our law enforcement,” the Republican National Committee wrote on social media. In the House vote on the bill, 206 Democratic members voted against it while seven voted in favor.

—Joseph Lord and Arjun Singh

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