Shutdown watch. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the White House are negotiating a framework to pass five of the six outstanding FY2026 funding bills, as well as a stopgap measure for the Department of Homeland Security, per sources familiar with the discussions.
Under this framework, Congress would pass a short-term DHS patch to allow for negotiations to continue over new limits on ICE and CBP agents as they implement President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The Senate Republican leadership began the week by saying Democrats should agree to pass all six spending bills, which Schumer has refused to do.
If Schumer and the White House come to an agreement, there would still likely be a funding lapse over the weekend. The House, which is slated to return Monday, would have to pass the five-bill spending package and the DHS stopgap.
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats coalesced around a list of proposed reforms to DHS and ICE’s operations and tactics. Democrats want to tighten the rules over the use of warrants, enforce a uniform code of conduct for federal officers, bar federal agents from wearing masks and require them to wear body cameras.
Trump and White House officials clearly feel like they’re at a significant political disadvantage here, which is why they are engaging Schumer in the talks. Plus, Democrats are ready to take this fight to the brink and shut down the government for the second time in a few months if needed.
Border czar Tom Homan, who Trump sent to Minnesota to take over federal operation there from controversial Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, will hold a highly-anticipated press conference this morning. White House officials want Homan to calm down a volatile situation that’s led to two deadly shootings by federal agents in just a few weeks. Those shootings have turned into a crisis that’s put Congress on the verge of another shutdown for key federal agencies.
There were mixed feelings among Hill Democrats about whether last fall’s clash over Obamacare subsidies was worth the record 43-day government shutdown, even though it armed Democrats with a potent health care message for the midterms.
Democrats’ mood. Senate Democrats’ complete 180 on a potential shutdown after Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis is even more remarkable when you consider the handful of Democrats who opposed the last one.
“I don’t like shutdowns,” said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), one of just three Democratic Caucus members who wouldn’t support the October-November shutdown. “But it was a matter of conscience. I didn’t want to be complicit with what these guys are doing.”
To Democrats, the current situation has both a strong moral and political element. In this case, Democrats see an equivalent political upside of instigating another shutdown fight as they observe an unusually conciliatory Trump and a majority of Senate Republicans acknowledging the need for changes at DHS.
How Senate Democrats navigate the funding fight will be under immense scrutiny from their base, which has been eager to battle the Trump administration — and even more so now. Schumer and top Senate Democrats are also issuing demands they view as realistic concessions for the GOP, a tactic that won’t sit well with everyone on the left.
On a private caucus call Wednesday night, some House Democrats raised questions over whether they can trust their Senate counterparts to hold out, according to multiple sources on the call. Members wondered if Senate Democrats’ demands would do enough to rein in ICE.
Some progressives want to go even further. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said Democrats should be using this opportunity to “defund and abolish” ICE.
The state of play. The Senate is scheduled to hold the first procedural vote on the six-bill funding package at 11:30 a.m. To strip out the DHS funding, Democrats first need to provide the votes to advance the legislation.
We’ll have to see whether Schumer and the White House have an agreement by that time, or are on the path to reaching a deal.
There’s real risk here for both Trump and Schumer. The House is a mess — more on that in a minute — and hardline conservatives have said they’re staunchly opposed to rewriting the DHS funding bill.
The White House had offered Democrats executive orders or another legislative package in which they could enact their DHS reforms. But top Democrats were insistent that these reforms be enacted in the DHS spending bill. Unlike the previous shutdown fight, Democrats limited their demands to a set of reforms they believe are realistic for Republicans to agree to.
Senate Democrats feel they need to get a deal quickly, amid the national uproar over Pretti’s killing.
However, some Republicans are reluctant to embrace the entirety of the Democrats’ demands, including that ICE agents be barred from wearing masks and that warrant requirements be tightened. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said before Democrats finalized their proposal that the GOP wouldn’t agree to anything that stops ICE from carrying out Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“The American people wanted the president to enforce law and order,” Mullin said. “ICE is doing their job.”
