Senate Democrats demand DHS funding bill include reforms to ‘rein in ICE’ | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, demanded Wednesday that legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) include a mask ban and other reforms for federal agents involved in immigration enforcement, sparking a clash with Republicans that could see the government partially shut down in the coming days.

Congress is working to avoid a disruption in federal funding as early as Friday, and Senate Republican leaders plan to hold a key procedural vote Thursday on the DHS funding measure and five bills authorizing spending by several other government departments.

But after last weekend’s killing of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, Schumer called for the DHS bill to be rewritten and voted on separately. On Wednesday, he announced that Democrats had “come together” on “a set of common-sense and necessary policy goals we need to rein in ICE and end the violence.”

These include a ban on patrols by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a mandate to coordinate with local and state police; imposing a uniform code of conduct and requiring independent investigations into violations; and a ban on the wearing of masks by federal agents, as well as a rule that they wear body cameras and carry identification.

“These are common-sense reforms that Americans know and expect from law enforcement,” Schumer said. “If Republicans refuse to support them, they are simply choosing chaos over order. They are choosing to protect ICE from accountability for American lives.”

At a news conference held shortly before Schumer unveiled the Democrats’ demands, Senate Majority Leader John Thune appeared open to discussing ICE reforms with Democrats, but no change in the GOP’s plans to begin voting on the spending bills on Thursday. All six were approved by the House of Representatives last week.

“The Democrats have objected, and so we’re eager to hear what their demands are, what their demands are, what their demands are. I think the administration is willing to sit down with them and have a discussion, maybe a negotiation about how we move forward,” Thune said.

“But the one thing I know… is that a government shutdown is not in anyone’s best interest.”

The Republican leader added that the DHS funding bill includes less money for ICE than the Trump administration had requested, as well as funds for agent body cameras and “de-escalation training,” which he called “things Democrats have said they want.”

He stressed that failure to pass the DHS bill would not stop ICE’s operations, since it received tens of billions of dollars from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act earlier this year. But it would affect other agencies under DHS, such as the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), which are responding to last week’s widespread winter storm.

“I hope we can get things back on track. We need to fund the government,” Thune said.

Schumer’s demands significantly increase the chances of at least a partial shutdown beginning later this week, as any changes to the DHS funding bill in the Senate require it to pass the House again.

Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters that her party has no similar objections to the five other spending bills pending before the Senate, which authorize money for departments including Labor, Defense, Health and Human Services through September.

“Democrats are prepared to avoid a shutdown. We have five bills that we all agree on – about 95% of the remaining budget. The bill is ready. We can pass these five bills, no problem,” she said.

“The ball is in the Republicans’ court, but when it comes to DHS, we cannot ignore what happened on Saturday, especially after what we have seen over the past 12 months. We must split this bill and address the brutal reality that ICE and [Customs and Border Protection] are out of control and putting American citizens at risk.

Republicans control the Senate with 53 seats, and most legislation requires at least 60 votes to end the filibuster, making bipartisan compromise essential.

The Democratic opposition is setting up a scenario similar to what happened last September, when the minority party refused to vote for government funding bills unless the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits for health plans were extended. This resulted in the longest government shutdown in history, which ended after 43 days when seven Democratic senators joined with the Republican Party to reauthorize the spending.

Most Democratic senators publicly support the party’s strategy on the DHS appropriations bill, and some have joined calls for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign or be fired in the wake of Pretti’s death.

John Fetterman, who represents the swing state of Pennsylvania, is among those who support Noem’s ouster but has expressed hesitation about the prospect of a government shutdown.

“I have spent a lot of time hearing many different positions on funding bills and I maintain that I will never vote to shut down our government, especially our Department of Defense,” he said in a statement Monday.