The partial shutdown began in February when Democrats refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unless Republicans agreed to new limits on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. They tied these demands to the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by immigration agents in Minneapolis.
Final passage is expected this week. Before that vote, the Senate will hold what is known as a “vote-a-rama”—a marathon session in which any senator can force a vote on an amendment. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said his caucus will use that session to draw a contrast with Republicans on the cost of living.
“Republicans want to shell out millions of dollars to Donald Trump’s private army without any common sense reforms or restraints,” Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Democrats want to put money in Americans’ pockets by lowering the costs of health care and gas and groceries, housing, and so much else.”
Schumer said in a press conference alongside Democratic colleagues later on that Republicans are directing $140 billion to ICE and Border Patrol while providing nothing to lower Americans’ costs. The budget resolution instructs two Senate committees—Judiciary and Homeland Security, and Governmental Affairs—to each propose changes that increase the deficit by up to $70 billion. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) used the $70 billion figure at Wednesday’s news conference.
Murray called the package a “blank check” to ICE with “zero accountability, zero reforms and zero strings attached.” She said Democrats had spent months pushing for reforms that would require warrants for home entries, set use-of-force standards, and require agents to identify themselves and remove masks.
“I am for law and order, but handing off a blank check to ICE is the exact opposite of law and order,” Murray said.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) tied the debate to events in her home state, where ICE operations have drawn scrutiny after incidents earlier this year. She said the $70 billion could instead fund 200,000 local police officers for three years, extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, or build 700,000 affordable homes—alternatives she said most Americans would prefer.
“I know what their answer would be, probably 80, 90 percent of them,” Klobuchar said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) defended the measure in floor remarks earlier Wednesday, framing Democratic opposition as a return to “defund the police” rhetoric which gained traction in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests.
“Democrats want to defund law enforcement. Defund border security,” Thune said. He pointed to the Biden-era surge of illegal border crossings and said the resolution would prevent Democrats from “deciding that they want to defund law enforcement again in September” by locking in three years of funding.
Thune said reconciliation was not his preference but was necessary to end the shutdown.
A separate bill funding the rest of DHS—including the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Coast Guard—has passed the Senate and is pending in the House.