Dem
47
GOP
53
The outrage in the country about ICE killing a second American citizen in cold blood (and on camera) in Minneapolis is giving Democrats an opening. There will be a government shutdown on Saturday unless Congress passes six necessary spending bills, including one for DHS. Senate Democrats are planning to use their leverage to force changes to ICE. In particular, they will filibuster funding unless there are accountability measures for ICE included in the budget bill. It takes 60 votes to invoke cloture so bills can be passed but Republicans have only 53 seats in the Senate. This is what gives Democrats some power and they say they will use it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) issued a statement yesterday afternoon that read in part: "What's happening in Minnesota is appalling—and unacceptable in any American city. Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans' refusal to stand up to President Trump, the [Department of Homeland Security] bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. I will vote no. Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included."
He isn't the only one. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, tweeted on Saturday that she no longer supported the DHS bill. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), the ranking member of the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee, said: "I don't think we will look sincere in our moral outrage about what's happening in DHS if we vote to fund a budget that puts no constraints on their illegal, inhumane operations." Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said he would not vote for the Homeland Security bill without significant amendments. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) said the administration is "putting undertrained, combative federal agents on the streets with no accountability." Sen. Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN) is furious about what ICE is doing in her state and will not vote for DHS funding. Sen. Angus King (I-ME) ditto. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) both said "Enough is enough." They won't vote for the bill either. Heinrich added that major reforms are needed at DHS. Other Democratic senators made similar statements, but this group includes some of the key votes (specifically, Kaine, Rosen, and Cortez Masto) that allowed the can-kicking bill to pass a couple of months ago.
What might "reform" look like? If Democrats really want to go to the mat on this, they could write into the law some provisions that rein in the worst things ICE is doing, including forbidding agents from wearing masks and requiring agents to wear name tags with their last name and a unique personnel number. There could be a provision mandating that ICE turn over all evidence to state authorities if the state AG has a suspicion that a state law was violated. All criminal and civil immunity for agents who violate state or federal law could be stripped. The idea would be to tackle the problem from the bottom up, making it clear to agents that they can be prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned for violating state laws. There could also be provisions to tackle the problem from the top down, for example, limiting the kinds of weapons ICE agents may carry and requiring at least 3 months of training, including training on citizens' legal rights to follow and record them and conditions under which they are allowed to use lethal force. To ensure compliance, the funding could last only 3 months. If ICE complied, Congress could take up a new funding bill for the rest of the year. If ICE didn't comply, no more funding. Would Donald Trump like this? Probably not, but the power of the purse lies with Congress. Politically, this might not be a bad fight for Democrats to pick.
If Schumer sticks to his guns—which would be something new for him—another shutdown is likely, as Republican senators don't want to anger Donald Trump, who wants the funding with no strings attached. One potential compromise to save most of the government would be to split off the DHS funding from the package and pass the rest while debating what to do to rein in ICE. However, that would require the House to come back from its recess to pass the new stripped-down package.
An additional complication is that the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee is Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who is in the fight of her life for reelection. ICE invaded Maine last week and arrested over 100 people in Portland and Lewiston. This was widely condemned by Mainers. If Collins tries to pass the funding bills as is, with $10 billion for ICE, Democrats will beat her over the head with that during her campaign. But if she sides with Schumer and strips ICE funding from the package, at least for the moment, Donald Trump will be more furious with her than he already is and will try to defeat her in November. She is concerned and is exploring all options. Since Democrats see her as their top Senate target this year, they are unlikely to help her out of this bind.
Republican Senators were mostly hiding over the weekend. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who is also in the battle of his life for reelection, said: "The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake. There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth." On the other hand, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who is also up in 2026 but not under any pressure, blamed Gov. Tim Walz (DFL-MN) in this tweet: "Instead of bowing to his socialist flank, what Schumer should be doing is telling [Gov. Tim Walz] to stop encouraging violence and let law enforcement do its job. He must turn the rhetoric down and all the chaos is on his hands." (V)