By Jackson Richman & Nathan Worcester
Contributing Writers
WASHINGTON — The Senate failed to advance a spending package on Thursday after Democrats said they would not support the measure because it included funding for the Department of Homeland Security, increasing the odds of a partial government shutdown.
The stalled vote comes amid heightened scrutiny and protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the wake of two fatal shootings in Minneapolis.
Border czar Tom Homan, who was deployed to Minneapolis after the shooting of Alex Pretti, said on Thursday that progress had been made during his meetings with local authorities. Homan said that the federal government will draw down agents in the city after local authorities follow through on cooperating with ICE when dealing with illegal immigrant prisoners.
The procedural vote on the six-bill funding package fell short of the 60-vote threshold required to advance most legislation in the Senate. The final tally was 45-55.
Eight Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in voting no: Sens. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Rand Paul, R-Ky., Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Ted Budd, R-N.C., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. Thune voted no for procedural reasons. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the lone Democrat to vote for advancing the package.
This comes a day before a funding deadline on Friday.
Democrats objected to including DHS funding in the broader spending package, arguing it should be considered separately. The full package passed the House last week, but splitting the bills would require sending them back to the House, which is in recess until next week.
A short-term government funding bill expires on Friday, leaving no time for the House to act on revised legislation before funding lapses.
As a result, several federal agencies face shutdowns, including DHS and the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development. The short-term funding bill ended the 43-day shutdown last year, the longest in U.S. history.
President Donald Trump expressed hope there would not be another shutdown.
“We’re working on that right now. I think we’re getting close,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday. “The Democrats, I don’t believe, want to see it either.”
Trump added that the White House and Democrats will “work in a very bipartisan way … not to have a shutdown.”
Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday outlined three demands related to DHS and ICE operations.
Schumer said the first demand is “an end to roving patrols” of ICE agents in U.S. cities, tighter restrictions on warrants, and coordination between federal agents and state and local law enforcement.
The second demand calls for greater accountability for ICE agents.
“Federal agents should be held to the same use-of-force policies that apply to state and local law enforcement and be held accountable when they violate those rules,” Schumer said.
The third demand would require ICE and other immigration agents to operate without masks, wear body cameras, and carry state-issued identification at all times.
Thune said that the entire package should be passed.
“We need to fund the government. We have a bill sitting in the Senate today that does that, that if we pick it up and pass it and put it on the president’s desk and all 12 appropriations bills will have been done this year,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters that the body-camera requirement is already included in the DHS bill.
However, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said he supports splitting DHS funding from the rest of the package, telling reporters it is “the only way” to avoid a shutdown.
Paul told reporters he is open to the judicial warrant reform contemplated by Democrats.
When it comes to funding DHS in the interim, there is an openness from some Democrats to do a continuing resolution while voting for the rest of the package.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters he would “certainly welcome” separating the DHS bill and have a short-term funding bill for the department. He said if there is no reform, then the department should be shut down.
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., did not rule out supporting a continuing resolution for the DHS, but he told reporters that the bills need to be split up first.
The length of a short-term DHS funding bill is uncertain. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told reporters that the Democrats are asking for two weeks, which he said is “too short.” He said such a measure should last a minimum of four to five weeks.
Meanwhile, Homan said on Thursday that the administration would be focusing on “targeted enforcement operations” that prioritized criminal illegal immigrants in Minnesota.
“We are not surrendering our mission at all — we’re just doing [it] smarter,” he said.
