Possibility of government shutdown looms as lawmakers balk at funding ICEpublished at 20:07 GMT 28 January
Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington
Senators return to Capitol Hill this week looking to resolve disagreements over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, as they work to avoid a partial government shutdown.
A funding package has already passed the House of Representatives and now needs to be passed by Friday to avoid funds being cut off from many critical agencies.
Only a few Democrats approved the package in the House, with most protesting the inclusion of money for DHS. Once Alex Pretti was shot and killed by DHS agents in Minnesota this weekend, almost all Democrats in the Senate said they would refuse to vote for the legislation.
The most powerful Democrat in the Senate, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, wrote on X: “The DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE. 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 continued in a post shared on Saturday.
Backlash from the Minneapolis shooting has also grown to include Republicans, including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Now Senators are openly discussing passing a funding bill that would not include DHS, but would have money for the other agencies.
Congress, though, is up against two challenges doing that: the weather and the clock. The Senate already had to delay votes earlier this week due to a major snowstorm in Washington and there is a chance the capital will be hit by another storm in coming days. Meanwhile, a reworked bill would have to go back to the House for approval and that chamber is set to return after Friday.
