Democrats weigh funding fight over ICE after Minneapolis shooting

We will soon know if a political fight is brewing.

This has been the case in recent days regarding congressional spending and war powers.

Article I, Section 9, states that “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but upon appropriations made by law.”

The most important power granted to Congress concerns the federal purse strings. In other words, what Congress believes the federal government should spend.

There were calls on the left to block funding to the Pentagon or the State Department after the US strike in Venezuela. There is now debate over the paralysis of the Department of Homeland Security and ICE after an agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

The Liberal Democrats are apoplectic.

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“A child lost his mother! And you all want to pretend everything is fine,” said Representative Jasmine Crockett, Democrat of Texas, fighting back tears. “I ask if there is anyone who will defend the very people who elected us and sent us to Congress?”

“A lot of people are talking about different reforms and that’s their prerogative,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. “Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee wrote [Chairman Andrew] Garbarino, R-N.Y., saying, “We would like to have an oversight hearing on what’s going on with ICE.” It’s a reasonable request.”

I pressed Thompson on whether Congress should use the appropriations to make changes to ICE.

“That’s above my pay grade,” Thompson responded.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. He is more aggressive about Congress exerting influence over the federal treasury.

Residents confront federal agents and Border Patrol agents over their presence in their neighborhood on Atlantic Blvd. in the Los Angeles suburb of Bell. California passed a law last year banning officials from wearing masks. (Getty Images)

“We must use every means at our disposal to achieve this,” Raskin said. “Including the credits process.”

Sometimes that involves cutting money. This sometimes means limiting spending. Sometimes lawmakers include provisions prohibiting certain activities of federal departments or agencies. Or, legislative language could direct agencies to perform their duties in a particular way.

But some progressives are so enraged that they want to slash funding for ICE. And maybe even shut down the government.

The next deadline is January 30, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

“It concerns me,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told colleague Kelly Phares. “I think it’s a really bad idea.”

Asked about a possible shutdown of ICE, the president said lawmakers could avoid that.

Republicans balk at any attempt by the left to resume a government shutdown strategy after last fall’s 43-day shutdown.

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“This will be military-grade stupidity,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. “But I’m not leaving anything out for them. So maybe they didn’t learn anything from the fall shutdown — which was stupid.”

Congress has yet to take up funding bills for the Pentagon or State Department for fiscal year 2026. The same goes for DHS — although that bill is coming soon.

Funding for nine separate sections of the federal government expires at the end of the day, January 30. This includes DHS.

The House has just approved a “minibus” spending program, covering appropriations intended for energy and water programs, the Ministry of the Interior and the ministries of Commerce, Justice and scientific programs. The Senate is expected to align with the House on these bills. Regardless, Congress would likely need to approve another “continuing resolution” (CR) to keep the lights on in all other areas of the federal government past the January 30 deadline. A CR simply renews all federal funding at current levels. So it’s likely that Congress will approve whatever spending bills it comes up with and put everything else on a CR to avoid a shutdown.

But some progressives have other ideas. They want to use this government funding deadline as “leverage” over ICE and Venezuela-related operations.

Passing a new DHS appropriations bill gives lawmakers the opportunity to change policy or set funding. If the House and Senate do not approve a full-year spending package, Congress would simply increase current levels for now.

That is, unless the Republicans are running out of votes on their side and need the Democrats to bail them out. Some progressive Democrats are pushing for a shutdown, just on the issue of ICE. But we probably won’t get to that point.

Sunrise light hits the dome of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the 119th Congress is scheduled to begin Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

For what?

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., don’t want to get anywhere near another fight over government funding this year.

“Is ICE a red line in the fight for funding? Should this be part of any funding bill?” asked Manu Raju of CNN’s Jeffries.

“Our focus right now, in terms of the appropriations bill, is to get the three bills that will be introduced today across the finish line. And then we’ll turn to homeland security,” Jeffries said — just hours before the House approved the triumvirate of other spending packages.

But I followed up by asking Jeffries why Democrats wouldn’t assert themselves if this issue was so critical.

“No, what I’m focused on right now, Chad, is improving the lives of the American people by extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Which, by the way, a lot of people in this institution thought wasn’t possible,” Jeffries said.

This is a reference to Democrats’ bill to renew expired Obamacare subsidies, which passed Thursday. Remember, extending these grants was at the heart of last year’s government shutdown.

Schumer also fired off a question when asked about ICE and Congressional spending.

“Should ICE be abolished, Senator? » asked a journalist.

“I have a lot of problems with ICE,” Schumer responded.

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“Should it be abolished?” followed the scribe

“Thank you,” Schumer said as he walked through the Capitol visitors center, from the House side to the Senate side.

Yours really got going.

“Why is there resistance to using the credits process, whether for Venezuela or now certainly for ICE?” I asked Schumer. “Are you afraid of another government shutdown?

Schumer did not respond.

“Senator, it appears you are not looking to fight over ICE. Is that fair to say? » asked another reporter.

No response from Schumer.

“Why not use the appropriations process to rein in ICE, Leader Schumer?” » someone shouted as he continued to walk down the hallway.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a press conference following the weekly Senate Democratic Policy Luncheon at the U.S. Capitol June 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. During the news conference, Senate Democrats spoke to reporters about anti-ICE protests across the country and recent shootings in Minnesota that killed one state lawmaker and injured another. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Silence from the Senate’s top Democrat.

Fox is told that Democratic leaders are not keen on another shutdown. They fear that this could disrupt their medium-term strategy. So they are trying to stifle talk of defunding ICE in the hopes of being able to maintain a fragile truce on government funding between now and January 30.

There is no love lost between Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and ICE. But despite pressure from her progressive colleagues to lean on ICE funding, even she understands Jeffries and Schumer’s pragmatism on this issue.

“They’re responsible for leading an entire caucus that elects lawmakers across the country. So they’re in a different position,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

However, Ocasio-Cortez added that funding for ICE “exploded virtually overnight and we’re seeing the consequences of that in terms of the abuse of power that’s happening.” She also mentioned that Democrats could continue cuts to ICE in another funding round. Or if they win a majority in the House in the midterms.

But all this is far away.

Minnesota ICE shooting poses political conundrum for Democrats.

Remember that time last winter when Democrats were showing up at federal agencies cursing like sailors and shouting about DOGE? The Democratic base accused its leaders of not “fighting” hard enough.

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Then Schumer agreed to help fund the government last March, avoiding a government shutdown. This sparked an infight between Democrats on Capitol Hill. And it helped set the stage for the government shutdown in the fall.

We are now witnessing a seismic event in Minnesota that is dominating the political landscape. Perhaps to the level of the death of George Floyd in 2020. Democrats are demanding that their party use the political tools at their disposal to “fight.” One solution is to provide credit and funding to DHS and ICE.

We’ll soon know if Jeffries and Schumer picked the “right” fight. Or if the Democratic base demands a “new” fight.