Democrats Stand Firm on ICE Demands as FEMA, TSA, and Coast Guard Funding in a Lurch

A partial government shutdown appears imminent as Democrats are standing firm and refusing to provide funding to the Department of Homeland Security.

There is only one day left to fund the Department of Homeland Security, the lone department awaiting appropriations from Congress through the rest of the fiscal year. The White House has attempted to negotiate but the proposal doesn’t seem to be enough for Democrats. 

The department encompasses TSA, FEMA, and ICE, whose deportation efforts are funded under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.  

The Senate Homeland Security Committee hosted the second DHS hearing of the week on Thursday morning. The White House sent Democrats a proposal to fund the department on Wednesday night.  

Many senators on the committee told The Daily Signal they had not yet seen the official proposal, but from what they know about it, the deal is not sufficient. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told The Daily Signal he hasn’t yet seen the text, but it has been described to him.  

“I think they’re just more of the same window dressing and cosmetic proposals,” said Blumenthal. “They [The White House] failed to do the kind of rigorous, far reaching, overhaul that is necessary to rein in and reform this out of control agency,” Blumenthal claimed.  

Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced a series of demands that needed to be met for Democrats to vote to keep the government open. The extensive list included items such as requiring judicial warrants for immigration enforcement and banning identity-protecting masks for immigration officers.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Thursday that the offer “falls short” of Democrats’ demands.

“My preliminary assessment of it is that it falls short of the type of dramatic changes necessary in order to change ICE,” Jeffries said in a press briefing of the “so-called offer.”  

Schumer echoed this messaging on the Senate floor claiming that “the administration doesn’t actually want to reform ICE.”  

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., told reporters as he left Thursday’s hearing that he doesn’t know where he stands on negotiations with Democrats on the funding bill, “because even some of the reforms that are going to be proposed by the Democrats, I think, aren’t concrete enough for me to know yet exactly what those reforms are.”

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told The Daily Signal outside the hearing room that he has also not seen the proposal from the White House.  

“Chuck Schumer wants to shut down ICE, and he doesn’t care that TSA is not going to get paid, and the Coast Guard is not going to get paid,” Scott said.

“It seems like all the Democrats want to do is support criminals that are coming into this country,” Scott continued.

“They want open borders, and then whenever ICE or CBP, and Border Patrol wants to do their job, all the Democrats do is attack them,” the Florida Senator concluded.

Democrat Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Ruben Gallego of Arizona also said they have not seen the White House proposal.

Slotkin told the Daily Signal that while she is not on the negotiating team, she is aware conversations are still happening.

“I am not supporting additional money for ICE until and unless they have significant reforms, and we haven’t seen that,” said Slotkin.

“From the top lines we’re seeing, it’s not sufficient, at least for me to have to vote for it,” Gallego confirmed.  

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