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Washington — Senate Democrats are threatening to block a package to fund major parts of the government this week, including the Department of Homeland Security, following the deadly shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis.
But a partial government shutdown would likely have little impact on the administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement operations, since the relevant DHS agencies received a massive funding infusion in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. The immigration enforcement agencies would have the funds to continue operating uninterrupted, even if other parts of the government shut down.
The Senate had been poised this week to approve a six-bill package to fund the remaining government agencies and programs — including funding for DHS. The department oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, the agency that includes Border Patrol.
After Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday, the second deadly shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis this month, Democrats came out against the plan. Facing intense pressure from their base, they have called for the DHS funds to be stripped from the broader package, a demand that makes a partial government shutdown appear likely.
“Big, beautiful bill” funds to keep ICE, CBP operational
DHS received an influx of around $165 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, going well beyond the annual funding the agency regularly receives. The bill provided $75 billion for ICE and $65 billion for CBP, an enormous infusion of money for the agencies responsible for implementing the administration’s mass deportation effort.
The DHS bill being debated now would provide $64.4 billion in discretionary funding for the fiscal year, including $10 billion for ICE. Democratic appropriators acknowledged before the Minneapolis shooting that failing to pass new funding would not hamper the administration’s immigration efforts.
The office of Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, said in a bill summary released last week that “Congress’ failure to pass a Homeland Security appropriations bill would not shut down ICE or CBP,” given the OBBBA funds.
The summary noted that a lapse in funding “would instead allow ICE and CBP to continue their operations using OBBBA funds — but without any of the constraints imposed by an enacted funding bill — while FEMA, TSA, CISA, Coast Guard, and other DHS components are shuttered, or working without pay.”
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The office of Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Murray’s counterpart in the House, said in another release that, in the event of a funding lapse, “ICE would be able to sustain regular operations for multiple years, while the other agencies under this bill would likely be forced to furlough workers and reduce operations.”
Both DeLauro and Murray have since opposed or pledged to oppose the DHS funding bill that they negotiated.
During the 43-day shutdown last fall, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said more than 70,000 law enforcement officers in “critical mission areas” across DHS, including in CBP and ICE, would be paid for all hours worked. Law enforcement officers and other essential employees continue to work without pay during a government shutdown if their agencies don’t have other sources of funding and receive backpay once the shutdown is over.
On Monday, Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who regularly breaks with his party on fiscal issues, also pointed to the funding reality.
“The Senate is debating another $10B for ICE. But Congress already locked in nearly $19B a year for four years,” Paul said in a post on X. “Even if this fails, ICE will still have about 87% more funding than last year.”
The Senate fight over DHS funding
Senate Democrats are urging GOP leaders to strip the DHS funding measure from the broader funding package. But any changes to the legislation would require House approval, and the lower chamber is away from Washington this week on recess. Government funding for the relevant departments is set to expire at 12 a.m. Saturday.
Failing to approve the remaining funding bills would prompt a partial government shutdown. So far, Congress has approved and the president has signed six of the 12 appropriations bills into law, extending funding through September. The remaining six bills passed the House earlier this month and were grouped together for passage in the Senate. In addition to the DHS funding, they include funding for the departments of Defense, State, Treasury and Education, among others.
Heading into the week, Senate GOP leaders were forging ahead with the funding plan, beginning procedural steps Monday to put the full package of bills on the floor later this week despite objections from Democrats. With 53 Republicans, Democratic support is necessary to reach a 60-vote threshold to advance the legislation.
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GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top appropriator in the Senate, advocated for the package on the Senate floor Monday, saying, “These are fiscally responsible bills that reflect many months of hard work and deliberation from members from both parties and from both sides of the Capitol.”
Collins acknowledged how the deadly shooting of Pretti has “refocused attention” on the DHS bill, saying that she recognizes and shares the concerns of some of her colleagues. But she emphasized that safeguards are already within the bill, while noting that the vast majority of its funding is for non-immigration and non-border security functions, including for FEMA, TSA and the U.S. Coast Guard.
“I hope we can come together in a constructive way to get this done and to ensure that we do not lurch into a dangerous and detrimental government shutdown,” she said.
