Government shutdown nears amid Senate standoff over ICE funding
The federal government Wednesday inched closer to a shutdown as the Senate remained deadlocked over a spending bill that would fund Immigration Customs and Enforcement amid the agency’s deadly clashes with protesters in Minneapolis.
Large swaths of the federal government will shut down Saturday morning unless President Trump and Republicans can engineer a breakthrough with Democrats who vow to block a sprawling spending package that includes money for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
“In the wake of ICE’s abuses and the administration’s recklessness, Senate Democrats will NOT pass the DHS budget until it is rewritten,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted.
Republicans need the support of at least seven Democratic senators to clear the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, giving the minority party power to upend the spending bills if they stay unified.
Schumer has demanded that Republicans separate the DHS funding bill from five other spending bills for many other agencies and said Democrats would vote for those bills to keep the government open.
They want to negotiate sweeping changes to how ICE operates in exchange for passing the DHS funding measure, including an outside investigation into the killing of protester Alex Pretti, improved training for dealing with protestors and bystanders. and forcing agents to stop wearing masks to obscure their identity.
Republicans so far are pushing ahead with plans to force a vote on the entire package, including the DHS spending bill, on Thursday. If that fails as expected, they may engage in negotiations with Democrats about possible solutions.
Ironically, the unpopular ICE operation in Minnesota could continue even if there is a shutdown because agents are deemed essential government employees.
Both parties’ Senate caucuses were meeting Wednesday to discuss their positions.
Democrats want to streamline their demands for ICE reforms, many of which appear to enjoy wide public support as polls show Americans disapprove of the crackdown by wide margins.
Republicans want to take the political temperature of their lawmakers, some of whom have grown uncomfortable with the unpopular ICE activity in Minneapolis that has now left two U.S. citizens dead.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the Republican-led House of Representatives already passed the bills and lawmakers are out of town on a break. They would have to return to approve any compromise even if one could be reached.
Should a shutdown occur, it would be the second since Trump returned to the White House last year after winning a second term.
Senate Democrats blocked a funding bill last fall, demanding that the GOP include an extension to expiring Obamacare tax credits, sparking a shutdown that dragged on for an unprecedented 43 days until a group of moderate Democrats caved.
Polls showed more voters blamed Republicans for the shutdown, potentially giving Democrats courage to take a strong stand on opposing ICE funding.