{"id":543430,"date":"2026-01-26T05:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T05:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/543430\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T05:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T05:51:10","slug":"democrats-vow-to-oppose-homeland-security-money-increasing-shutdown-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/543430\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats vow to oppose homeland security money, increasing shutdown chance"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Democratic senators are vowing to oppose a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security<\/a> following the shooting death<\/a> of a 37-year-old Minnesota man<\/a>, a stand that increases the prospect of a partial government shutdown<\/a> by the end of the week. <\/p>\n

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, in a social media post hours after the Saturday shooting, said that what is happening in Minnesota<\/a> is \u201cappalling\u201d and that Democrats \u201cwill not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six of the 12 annual spending bills for the current budget year have been signed into law by President Donald Trump. Six more are awaiting action in the Senate, despite a revolt from House Democrats and mounting calls for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem\u2019s impeachment. <\/p>\n

If senators fail to act by midnight Friday, funding for Homeland Security and the other agencies covered under the six bills will lapse.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans\u2019 refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE,\u201d said Schumer, D-N.Y. \u201cI will vote no.\u201d <\/p>\n

The White House reached out to Senate Democrats late Sunday, as have Republicans, according to a Senate Democratic leadership aide who insisted on anonymity to discuss the private talks.<\/p>\n

But they have not yet raised any realistic solutions, the aide said.<\/p>\n

Republicans will need some Democratic support to pass the remaining spending bills in time to avoid a partial shutdown. That support was already in question after Renee Good<\/a>, a mother of three, was fatally shot and killed earlier this month by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis. But the fatal shooting Saturday of Alex Pretti<\/a>, an intensive care unit nurse, quickly prompted Democrats to take a more forceful stand.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, House and Senate Democrats convened separate conference calls as they privately assess next steps and press to restrain the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement operations.<\/p>\n

A deal begins to unravel<\/p>\n

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee and key negotiator on the funding package, had been pushing her colleagues to vote for the homeland security bill, arguing that Democrats had successfully fought off major increases to the ICE budget. <\/p>\n

But in the wake of the shooting, Murray said Sunday on X that \u201cI will NOT support the DHS bill as it stands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFederal agents cannot murder people in broad daylight and face zero consequences,\u201d Murray wrote.<\/p>\n

Federal officials have defended the actions of the agents involved in the Good and Pretti shootings as justified. Democrats said video released of both shootings showed otherwise. Republicans are increasingly challenged, with some calling for thorough investigations<\/a> while others stand with federal officials. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing,\u201d Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., posted on X. \u201cThe credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake. There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., wants a \u201cthorough and impartial investigation\u201d into the shooting and said \u201cany administration official who rushes to judgment and tries to shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump\u2019s legacy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. said Democrats should reconsider their threat to not support DHS funding and work with him to \u201cend the mess created by sanctuary city policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow is not the time to defund one of our major national security priorities: border protection,\u201d Graham said on X. <\/p>\n

Funding puzzle will be hard to solve<\/p>\n

The growing backlash from Democrats puts Republican leaders in the Senate in a difficult position. <\/p>\n

Much of the government, including the Department of Defense, continues to operate on a short-term bill that provides funding only through Friday.<\/p>\n

Republican leaders had hoped to avoid another shutdown after last fall\u2019s 43-day closure<\/a> that revolved around Democrats\u2019 insistence on extending federal subsidies that make health coverage more affordable for those enrolled in the Affordable Care Act marketplace. <\/p>\n

Before Pretti\u2019s death, many Democrats felt the same way about a potential shutdown, lending support in the House to most of the remaining appropriations bills \u2014 with DHS the exception.<\/p>\n

House Democrats largely rejected the homeland security portion last week with just a handful joining Republicans to ensure its passage. More than 100 House Democrats called for Noem\u2019s impeachment.<\/p>\n

The House sent the six funding bills to the Senate as a package, and that makes it exceedingly difficult to strip out the homeland security portion which Democrats are demanding. <\/p>\n

Despite the procedural hurdles, Schumer said Sunday that Republicans should work with Democrats to advance the other five bills and rewrite the DHS bill. \u201cThis is the best course of action, and the American people are on our side,\u201d Schumer said. <\/p>\n

The path ahead is uncertain. The Senate is not scheduled to return to session until Tuesday, due to the snowstorm. The House plans to be out of session this week and would have to pass the funding package again if it is changed.<\/p>\n

Democrats are pushing for policy changes to be added to the homeland security spending bill that would force ICE agents to use warrants for immigration arrests, mandate strengthened training, require agents to identify themselves and have Border Patrol agents stay on the border rather than assisting ICE with immigration raids in the interior of the country.<\/p>\n

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees homeland security funding, told CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union\u201d on Sunday that Congress cannot fund a department \u201cthat is murdering American citizens, that is traumatizing little boys and girls across the country in violation of the law.\u201d <\/p>\n

One by one, Democrats stake out opposition<\/p>\n

Democratic senators discussed the options on Sunday evening\u2019s call but without changes from Republicans, they appeared headed toward a shutdown. On the morning call with House Democrats, they heard from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and the state\u2019s attorney general, Keith Ellison, both former congressmen.<\/p>\n

Several other Democratic senators announced they would vote \u201cno\u201d on homeland security money, including some who had helped Republicans end the record shutdown last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe abuses of power we are seeing from ICE in Minneapolis and across the country are un-American and cannot be normalized,\u201d Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said in a post on X. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., also said she opposes that portion of the package.<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s Democratic senators also indicated they will oppose the DHS funding bill. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor those asking where we go from here: Not voting to fund ICE is a great place for us to start,\u201d Sen. Tina Smith wrote on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe oppose the ICE funding bill. We call for a full and transparent investigation with state officials,\u201d Sen. Amy Klobuchar said. \u201dAnd we call on our Republican colleagues to stand up. They know this is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why the entire government wouldn\u2019t shut down<\/p>\n

The progress that Congress has made so far on spending bills means that much of the federal government\u2019s work would continue even if lawmakers are unable to complete the job.<\/p>\n

A bill that Trump signed Friday funds the departments of Justice, Commerce and the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through the end of the budget year in September.<\/p>\n

The Department of Agriculture was funded from a previous measure, which means a shutdown shouldn\u2019t stop food assistance this time.<\/p>\n

But other critical operations of the government would be disrupted. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Democratic senators are vowing to oppose a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":543431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[238640,3666,42098,2064,8120,116391,327,84,69,57,325,49089,4222,409,139911,188991,2399,2934,16541,17635,3663,231219,3669,50,27130,80,225146,235115,3677,16538,3665,3664,89,3676,121682,2065,322,67,132,68,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-543430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-alex-pretti","10":"tag-amy-klobuchar","11":"tag-bill-cassidy","12":"tag-border-security","13":"tag-charles-schumer","14":"tag-chris-murphy","15":"tag-congress","16":"tag-district-of-columbia","17":"tag-donald-trump","18":"tag-general-news","19":"tag-government-budgets","20":"tag-government-shutdown","21":"tag-gun-violence","22":"tag-immigration","23":"tag-jacky-rosen","24":"tag-keith-ellison","25":"tag-kristi-noem","26":"tag-legislation","27":"tag-lindsey-graham","28":"tag-minneapolis","29":"tag-minnesota","30":"tag-minnesota-ice-crackdown","31":"tag-mn-state-wire","32":"tag-news","33":"tag-patty-murray","34":"tag-politics","35":"tag-renee-good","36":"tag-send-to-apple-news","37":"tag-shootings","38":"tag-thom-tillis","39":"tag-tim-walz","40":"tag-tina-smith","41":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","42":"tag-u-s-department-of-homeland-security","43":"tag-u-s-government-shutdown","44":"tag-u-s-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","45":"tag-u-s-republican-party","46":"tag-united-states","47":"tag-unitedstates","48":"tag-us","49":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}