John Fetterman Bucks Democrats On ICE As Country Barrels Toward Likely Shutdown

Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman broke with his party Monday by rejecting Democrats’ calls to defund or abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration authorities.

Fetterman, a moderate Democrat, said he opposed a defunding of federal immigration authorities following the killing of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent on Saturday. Lawmakers are set a Jan. 30 deadline to fund ICE and various government agencies, but Fetterman said he would not join Democrats if they tried to force a government shutdown. (RELATED: One of the only Democrats to vote to defund ICE is now calling for Kristi Noem’s impeachment)

“I will never vote to shut down our government, especially our Department of Defense,” Fetterman said in a statement on social media. “Furthermore, a vote to shut down our government will not defund ICE. DHS has $178 billion. [billion] in funding the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which I did not vote for.

Fetterman’s response noted that the failure to pass the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill would not prevent ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from continuing their work because of the tens of billions those agencies received as part of the July 2025 Republican tax and spending cut law.

“I reject calls to defund or abolish ICE,” Fetterman continued, adding that he disagreed with the tactics federal immigration authorities used in their Minneapolis operation and that agents should leave the city. President Donald Trump said Monday that ICE work would continue in Minneapolis and announced that border czar Tom Homan would take charge of operations.

The DHS funding bill narrowly passed the House with a handful of Democratic votes on Thursday, but it faces an uphill battle in the Senate due to opposition from Democrats following Pretti’s killing over the weekend. Several House Democrats who supported the DHS bill have publicly apologized for voting “yes” or denounced DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in recent days.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Sunday that Democrats would filibuster any appropriations bill that contains funding for ICE.

The Homeland Security bill was sent to the Senate as part of a broader package of five supplemental appropriations bills. Schumer proposed passing the non-DHS funding bills before the Jan. 30 shutdown deadline, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune did not agree to remove the DHS bill from the funding plan.

Fetterman could be the only Senate Democrat to cross party lines to support the House-passed DHS funding bill if Thune brings the measure to a vote.

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 6: U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks during a press conference following a weekly Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Fetterman said he wanted to discuss “removing” the DHS measure from the government’s funding package, but suggested he would vote to maintain funding for government operations regardless of the Homeland Security bill’s inclusion.

“This is unlikely to happen and our country will experience another shutdown,” Fetterman said.

Fetterman was one of three Democrats who refused to join Schumer’s tough tactics during the record fall 2025 shutdown.

The left-leaning Working Families Party launched a campaign to field a primary challenger against Fetterman in mid-January, citing his record of bipartisanship and his refusal to join Democrats’ government shutdown campaign. The maverick senator is not up for re-election until 2028.

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