Senate seeks escape from Homeland Security standoff

WASHINGTON — The Senate inched closer to triggering a partial government shutdown Monday as GOP leaders pushed forward with a $1.33 trillion funding package that includes a Homeland Security bill Democrats vowed to oppose.

With only four days left before current funding for most federal agencies runs out, both parties sought to find an exit ramp from the road to a shutdown that neither side wants.

The best hope for a quick resolution appeared to be some immediate change in policy from the administration, at least when it comes to the DHS presence in Minneapolis which has led to two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens.

But there was no obvious compromise in sight as of Monday, as Democrats continued to demand new legislative restraints on the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. And any changes made to the six-bill spending package for the current fiscal year would require another vote in the House, which is in recess this week.

“Republicans and the White House have reached out but have not yet raised any realistic solutions,” a Senate Democratic leadership aide said.

President Donald Trump and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, discussed the situation on a call on Monday. The president agreed to talk to DHS about ensuring the state is “able to conduct an independent investigation” and “look into reducing the number of federal agents,” the governor’s office said.

Trump struck an optimistic tone in the wake of the conversation, which he described as “very good.”

“I told Governor Walz that I would have (White House Border Czar) Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future.”

Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he hopes the call and Trump’s decision to send Homan to Minneapolis lead to “turning down the temperature and restoring order.”

Trump also spoke with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday and said Homan would be meeting with the mayor Tuesday. “Lots of progress is being made!” Trump wrote.

GOP criticism of the latest Minnesota shooting has been ramping up: A number of lawmakers, including Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who is facing a Trump-backed primary challenger, have called for an investigation into the incident.

Senate Homeland Security Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., has also called for the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to testify before his panel in an open hearing by Feb. 12. And the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on March 3.

However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump’s ongoing policy discussions and the fallout from the Minnesota shooting “should not be at the expense of government funding.”

“We absolutely do not want to see that funding lapse, and we want the Senate to move forward with passing the bipartisan appropriations package that was negotiated on a bipartisan basis,” Leavitt said.

In one move to try to calm the situation, the Trump administration is reportedly recalling Gregory Bovino, a top Border Patrol commander, and a contingent of his agents from Minnesota. But that didn’t appear to be enough to appease Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, who said he also wanted ICE out of the state as well.

“The entire ICE apparatus must leave Minnesota. Not tomorrow, not next week, TODAY,” Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on the social platform X.

Senate’s next steps

Schumer is calling on Republicans to advance the other five bills in the package — the Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation-HUD, Financial Services and National Security-State bills — while overhauling the Homeland Security legislation.

“The responsibility to prevent a partial government shutdown is on Leader Thune and Senate Republicans,” Schumer said in a statement Monday. “If Leader Thune puts those five bills on the floor this week, we can pass them right away.”

Senate Republicans have already indicated their aim to clear the six-bill package that passed the House last week. A Senate GOP aide said Sunday night that Republicans are “determined” to avert another shutdown and will “move forward as planned.”

Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Katie Britt, R-Ala., emphasized Monday the importance of other agencies funded under her subcommittee’s bill, like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service.

“We know from recent history that government shutdowns do not help anyone and are not in the best interest of the American people,” Britt said in a statement. “As we approach a government funding deadline, I remain committed to finding a pathway forward.”

While the DHS funding bill is the result of a larger bipartisan funding deal unveiled last week, the measure only drew floor support from seven of 213 House Democrats.

Democratic negotiators have highlighted some compromises included in the plan, including limitations on DHS’s ability to transfer funds to other accounts and reporting requirements on the agency’s plans to draw from the $170 billion provided under a reconciliation law enacted last year.

But other Democrats have criticized the bill for not going further to rein in ICE, which some have noted saw its deadliest year for people who have died in custody in two decades.

It also includes a $20 million allocation for body-worn cameras for ICE and CBP officers, but Democrats have also noted the current text does not require the cameras to be worn.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins emphasized on the chamber floor Monday the existing DHS guardrails in the bill as well as the quantity of funding going toward non-immigration agencies.

“I hope we can come together in a constructive way to get this done and to ensure that we do not lurch into a dangerous and detrimental government shutdown,” Collins, R-Maine, said. “So that is my goal, and I look forward to working with our colleagues this week to accomplish that objective.”

Democratic demands

Democrats in both chambers are stepping up calls for change at the immigration agencies, ranging from members of the party’s far-left wing to some of its most moderate senators.

Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, outlined a series of “non-negotiable” demands he wants his Senate colleagues to adopt. The list includes a withdrawal of federal agents from Minneapolis, an independent investigation into the killings, no more detaining and deporting of U.S. citizens, no masks on agents and an end to arrest quotas and warrantless arrests.

Meanwhile, Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat who voted to reopen the government in November, said in a statement Monday that she’s pushing for “commonsense, straightforward measures.” Requiring agents to wear body cameras, ensuring due process and no warrantless arrests and preventing U.S. citizens from being detained are among the proposals she’s floating.

Given the need for House input on any changes made to the package and procedural hurdles, Congress could be headed toward at least a brief partial government shutdown at week’s end.

Still, at least one Senate Democrat is interested in advancing the spending package, even with the Homeland Security bill attached. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who consistently voted with Republicans to reopen the government, said in a statement that he will “never vote to shut our government down.”

“I want a conversation on the DHS appropriations bill and support stripping it from the minibus,” Fetterman wrote. “It is unlikely that will happen and our country will suffer another shutdown.”

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(John T. Bennett and Savannah Behrmann contributed to this report.)

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