No clear path to ending the partial government shutdown as lawmakers dig in over DHS oversight
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — Lawmakers and the White House offered no signs of compromise Sunday in their battle over oversight of federal immigration agents that led to a pause in funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
A partial government shutdown began Saturday after congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump’s team failed to reach an agreement on legislation to fund the department until September. Democrats are demanding changes to how immigration operations are conducted following the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis last month.
Congress is on recess until February 23 and both camps seem stuck on their positions. The standoff affects agencies including the Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, Secret Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The work of ICE and CBP continues unabated, as Trump’s tax and spending cuts law starting in 2025 has provided billions more to agencies that can be tapped for deportation operations. About 90% of DHS employees were expected to continue working during the shutdown, but without pay — and missed paychecks could lead to financial hardship. Last year, the government experienced a record 43 days of paralysis.
White House border czar Tom Homan said the administration was unwilling to agree to Democrats’ demands that federal agents clearly identify themselves, remove their masks during operations and display unique identification numbers.
“I don’t like masks either,” Homan said. But, he added, “These men and women must protect themselves.”
Democrats also want to require immigration agents to wear body cameras and mandate court warrants for arrests on private property.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats are only asking federal agents to follow the rules followed by law enforcement across the country.
“And the question Americans are asking is, ‘Why aren’t Republicans on board with these common-sense proposals?'” Schumer said. “They’re not crazy. They’re not left out. That’s what every police department in America does.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, said he could support Democrats’ calls to equip immigration agents with body cameras and would support efforts to increase training. But he balked at their demands that federal agents remove their masks and clearly identify themselves, noting that some agents participating in immigration enforcement operations have faced doxing and other harassment.
“What are you going to do, expose their faces so you can intimidate their families? » Mullins said. “What we want is for ICE to be able to do its job. And we would like local law enforcement and states to cooperate with us.”
Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, a Trump ally who had pushed for a two-week extension of DHS funding as negotiations continued, said it was “a lack of insight for Democrats to walk away” from the talks.
Trump has made enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws a centerpiece of his campaign for the White House in 2024 and he has promised to be aggressive in detaining and deporting people living in the United States without legal authorization.
DHS reports having expelled more than 675,000 migrants since Trump returned to office last year and says some 2.2 million others have “self-expelled” as the Republican president has made cracking down on immigration a priority.
“President Trump is not going to back down on the mission, the mission that Americans have said they want him to accomplish, which is to secure our border and make sure that we actually have internal controls,” Britt said.
Homan was featured on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Schumer and Mullin appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” and Britt was interviewed on “Fox News Sunday.”
