The Senate voted on Friday to fund most of the government through the end of September after President Donald Trump struck a deal with Democrats to set aside Homeland Security funding and enable Congress to debate new restrictions on federal immigration raids across the nation.
With a weekend shutdown on the horizon, Trump reached a rare agreement with Senate Democrats on Thursday following the involving federal agents in Minneapolis. Under the accord, Homeland Security funding will stay at current levels for two weeks while lawmakers consider Democrats’ requests to unmask agents, require more warrants, and allow local authorities to assist in probing any incidents.
The bill passed with a vote of 71-29. It will now go to the House, which isn’t scheduled to return until Monday. This means the government could temporarily experience a partial shutdown over the weekend until the House passes it.
As lawmakers from both parties called for investigations into the fatal shootings by federal agents, Trump stated he did not want a shutdown and urged members of both parties to cast a “much-needed bipartisan ‘YES’ vote.”
The president’s concessions to Democrats triggered pushback from some Senate Republicans, delaying the final votes and offering a preview of the upcoming debate over the next two weeks. In a passionate floor speech, Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina cautioned that Republicans should not give away too much.
“To the Republican Party, where have you been?” Graham said, also noting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Border Patrol agents have been “slandered and smeared.”
Still, some Republicans maintained that changes to ICE’s operations were necessary, even though they were unlikely to agree to all of the Democrats’ demands.
“I think the past couple of days have been an improvement,” said Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. “I think the rhetoric has been toned down a bit in Minnesota.”
Democrats demand change
state that they will not vote again to fund the Department of Homeland Security until Congress imposes new restrictions on ICE and other federal agencies conducting the raids.
“These are not radical demands,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. “They’re basic standards that the American people already expect from law enforcement.”
Democrats have asked the White House to “end roving patrols” in cities and to coordinate with local law enforcement on immigration arrests, including requiring stricter warrant rules.
They also seek an enforceable code of conduct so that agents are held accountable when they violate rules. Schumer stated that agents should be required to have “masks off, body cameras on” and carry proper identification, which is standard practice in most law enforcement agencies.
, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was killed by a border patrol agent on Jan. 24, two weeks after a protester was killed by an ICE officer. Administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, initially , but contradicted that claim.
Republican pushback
Republicans countered with their own demands, including restrictions on so-called “sanctuary cities” which they claim do not do enough to enforce illegal immigration.
“There’s no way in hell we’re going to let Democrats cripple law enforcement and stop deportations in exchange for funding DHS,” said Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., ahead of the vote.
Graham delayed the spending bills until Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed to schedule a vote on his sanctuary cities bill at a later time.
Separately, Graham was also opposing the repeal of a new law that allowed senators to sue the government for millions of dollars if their personal or office data was accessed without their knowledge — as occurred to him and other senators as part of the so-called Arctic Frost investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by Trump supporters at the Capitol.
The spending bill, which was passed by the House last week, would repeal that law. But Graham said Thune had agreed to consider a separate bill that would allow “groups and private citizens” involved in Jack Smith’s probe to sue.
Rare bipartisan talks
The unusual bipartisan talks between Trump and his frequent adversary Schumer took place after Pretti’s death. Schumer called it “a moment of truth.”
The standoff threatened to push the country into another shutdown, just two months after Democrats blocked a spending bill over expiring federal health care subsidies. That dispute closed the government for 43 days as Republicans refused to negotiate.
That shutdown ended when a small group of moderate Democrats broke away to strike a deal with Republicans. But Democrats are more unified this time after the fatal shootings of and by .
Uncertainty in the House
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has stated he was opposed to splitting the funding package, but “if it is split, we will have to move it as quickly as possible. We can’t have the government shut down.”
Johnson said he might have some “tough decisions” to make regarding when to bring the House back to Washington to approve the bills separated by the Senate.
House Republicans have stated they do not want any changes to their bill.
“The package will not return to the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security,” members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote to Trump.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters that any change in the homeland bill needs to be “meaningful and transformative.”
Absent “dramatic change,” Jeffries said, “Republicans will face another shutdown.”