Is the Government About to Shut Down Over ICE Funding?

Congress is likely about to trigger a shutdown as Democrat leaders, responding to pressure from their base, demand restraints on immigration law enforcement in exchange for funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. laid his demands out on the table.

The House has sent the Senate the final six bills to fully fund the government for fiscal year 2026 before a Jan. 30 cut-off. In order for Republicans to bring the funding bills to a final vote, they need the support of at least seven Democrats.

Top Democrats previously appeared to grant their blessing to a bicameral, bipartisan homeland security bill, but they have rescinded their support since the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an interaction with federal officers.

Schumer on Wednesday demanded a stand-alone vote on the bill to fund DHS, with the five other bills in the funding package to be considered separately. 

In exchange for Democrats’ support of the homeland security bill, Schumer asked for concessions, such as a tightening of the “rules governing the use of warrants,” as well as a prohibition on mask use among Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

Splitting Up the Bills

Now Republicans must decide whether or not to yield to Democrat demands on funding.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who sits on the Senate appropriations committee, said Wednesday shortly before Schumer announced his demands that it might be necessary to separate the homeland security bill.

“My Democratic colleagues, led by Sen. Schumer, who are controlled by the Karen wing of their party, are not going to vote ‘yes’ right now on the homeland security bill,” Kennedy told reporters. 

“Rather than scuttling the whole package, I say let’s go ahead and pass what we can. I think all the bills will pass, except for homeland security, and then we can sit down and talk about homeland security,” Kennedy continued.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., was another Republican who expressed openness to accommodating Democrats if it proves politically impossible for them to back the homeland security bill.

“We have to have an open mind on the options,” he told reporters. “Obviously, one that we’re talking about is the five bills go and we do some work on DHS. But obviously the White House has to decide, tell us what they want, [and] we have to work with the House. But we are having those discussions.”

The White House

In this shutdown showdown, the White House’s role is very different than during the last one, in which Republicans repeatedly argued funding disputes are Congress’ problem, not the president’s.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Wednesday morning that if Democrats have demands, they should talk them over with the White House.

“I think right now the conversation should be between the White House and Democrats,” Thune said Wednesday morning. “If there’s a way that the Democrats have things that they want, the White House could accommodate short of modifying the bill, that’s the best way to do what we need to do here, which is to make sure the government is funded.”

Hoeven similarly argued the White House could play a major role.

“That’s a very dominant aspect to the negotiation, and I think if the White House and the Democrats agree on something, then we can get agreement in our caucus,” said Hoeven. “And of course, then work with the House.”

However, Schumer, who sought executive branch buy-in for congressional negotiations during the last shutdown, brushed off the idea of negotiating with the White House, telling reporters, “the White House has had no specific, good, concrete ideas in terms of what we want.”

The White House did not immediately provide comment to The Daily Signal on their discussions with Democrats.

The House

But even if Democrats seal a deal in the Senate that satisfies their homeland security demands, it could face resistance from conservatives in the House.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus, a fiscally hawkish, tough-on-the-border Republican faction, announced Tuesday they would not accept any bill which cuts funding to DHS.

“If they try to strip out the DHS funding, or they try to make a change, and they try to not fund DHS and demand the House make a change, I think that our letter speaks for itself that we think the president should continue to enforce federal law,” Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, a Freedom Caucus member told The Daily Signal.

Self added that he and his colleagues would also oppose attempts to require warrants for every deportation, arguing it would slow down ICE’s operations.

Fellow Freedom Caucus Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., similarly told The Daily Signal that the letter communicated “that we were not interested in allowing the Democrats to control this process.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., acknowledged the difficulty of getting the House to buy into a Senate-crafted deal, telling The Daily Signal, “ideally we’d like to get it done without having to take another dip in the House.”

Tillis continued, “I think … to me the wisest course, with the fewest gears, would be to keep the five appropriations bills together, divide the question on DHS, and move forward.”

Big, Beautiful Leverage

But Republicans are walking into this funding battle with substantial leverage in that deportation efforts already have funding from the party-line budget reconciliation bill passed in July.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., acknowledged this Wednesday, telling reporters, “Republicans already gave ICE an enormous slush fund which every Democrat voted against.”

Some Republicans told The Daily Signal they feel that their work in the summer of 2025 is now paying off.

“Of course, that helps absolutely,” Self told The Daily Signal. 

“If they choose to not pass this, they’re not going to do anything to ICE,” Harris told The Daily Signal.

“The unfortunate thing is that they hurt TSA and they hurt FEMA,” he added, mentioning the possibility of a destructive storm hitting the southeastern coast this weekend.

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