Negotiations to avert a partial government shutdown are being complicated by Democratic demands that any changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy be written into law by Congress.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) drew the red line on Tuesday as he called for immigration agents to leave Minneapolis after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti over the weekend.
The White House has expressed openness to a compromise with the Democrats, who are holding up a government funding bill over the shooting. But Democrats argue that President Donald Trump cannot be trusted to follow through on any agreement, accusing officials of lying about the circumstances of Pretti’s death.
“The fix should come from Congress,” Schumer said in a floor speech. “The public can’t trust the administration to do the right thing on its own, and the Republicans and Democrats must work together to make that happen.”
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Before Pretti’s death, Democrats secured modest enforcement concessions from Republicans in a spending bill that passed the House earlier this month, namely money for body cameras and de-escalation training in the Department of Homeland Security funding bill. They also secured $115 million for ICE’s enforcement and removal operations and the reduction of 5,500 detention beds at migrant holding facilities. Yet Senate Democrats have promised to derail its passage ahead of a Friday shutdown deadline unless the DHS portion is renegotiated.
Among their demands are the removal of masks routinely worn by ICE agents as well as the repeal of a new DHS memo that encourages officers to enter homes without a judicial warrant.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), speaking with reporters on his way to Schumer’s office Tuesday, said the changes “have to be in law” due to mistrust of the administration and that the two would be discussing “a set of reforms that will unite the caucus.”
Murphy is the top Democratic appropriator for DHS funding and a junior member of leadership.
Other Senate Democrats were less rigid over how a deal is struck, with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) telling reporters on Tuesday, “We will see how we get there.”
The demands have created an enormous headache for Republican leaders, who want to avert a shutdown but don’t believe the House can pass a retooled bill.
The Senate could split off DHS funding from the rest of the spending legislation, as Democrats are requesting, and send it back to the House. But fiscal hawks, who have leverage due to the GOP’s two-seat majority, have already threatened to oppose any bill that lacks the funding.
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) called it a “risky proposition” to redo what the House already passed, urging Democrats to hammer out a compromise with the White House.
“If there are things that the Democrats want in the Homeland bill or addressed in the context of this situation, they ought to make those clear and known and see to what degree the administration may be able to address that,” Thune told reporters.
“I would prefer that there be a way that we keep the package together,” Thune said. “I think it becomes really complicated and, frankly, risky for that matter, and I don’t think anybody benefits from a government shutdown.”
For now, Senate Republicans plan to hold their first vote on the House-passed spending bill on Thursday, leaving little time to avert a partial shutdown. Congress has already approved six of its 12 annual spending bills, but the remaining funding accounts for 75% of all discretionary spending.
When asked if there was a Plan B, Thune told reporters, “Well, that’s to be determined.”
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The impasse comes almost two weeks after Schumer met with Trump in the Oval Office for a meeting in which he brought up ICE and the nationwide enforcement operations that have drawn Democratic scrutiny.
The initial compromise on ICE guardrails came after an agent fatally shot Renee Good on the streets of Minneapolis earlier this month.