Senate Republicans Block Bill to Fund Most of DHS
There is no end in sight to the impasse that has kept Congress from ending the partial government shutdown after Republicans blocked a bill on Wednesday that would have funded most of the Department of Homeland Security.
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For weeks, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have accused Senate Democrats of jeopardizing national security by attaching strings to their support for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) budget. On Wednesday, the Democrats fought back and demonstrated that the GOP would rather keep this issue alive as a political weapon than ensuring that federal employees like TSA agents get paid.
When Sen. Patty Murray (WA), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, asked for unanimous consent to pass a bill that would fund all parts of DHS apart from ICE and Customs and Border Protection, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) objected and blocked a measure that would have achieved the thing that Republicans have been calling for.
“It’s extremely frustrating to me that despite all their talk about how important it is we fund TSA, and FEMA, and [the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)], and more — and despite Republicans’ own acknowledgement that they already funded ICE and Border Patrol with their big reconciliation, I call it the big ugly bill, from last summer — now Republicans are unwilling to work with us to fund some of these programs that keep Americans safe, while we keep trying to get somewhere on ICE and Border Patrol accountability,” Murray said.
The senator added that Democrats would not “write a blank check for rogue agencies that are trampling on the rights of Americans.”
At the heart of the fight over DHS funding is the Democrats’ insistence that ICE agents abide by the Constitution and comply with policing standards that apply to other law enforcement agencies.
Following ICE’s “surge” in Minnesota, which resulted in the killing of two Americans at the hands of federal agents and countless video evidence of masked goons using excessive force to harass and terrorize immigrants and citizens alike, the country turned on Donald Trump’s immigration and deportation policies.
As a result, Democrats last month put together a list of reforms, most of which have broad support among the public, that would rein in ICE and other DHS agents and force them to stop behaving like an unaccountable secret police force.
Republicans objected and, instead of trying to reach an agreement that would fund DHS while protecting the rights of Americans and immigrants, they have alleged that the Democrats are placing the nation at risk by refusing to fund the department (even though the vast majority of its employees are considered “essential” and continues to work).
“We have political games being played by our Democratic colleagues instead of putting the people of this nation first,” Britt said as she was blocking the quick passage of a bill that would have funded most of DHS. “What we’ve just seen put forth by the senator from Washington would effectively defund our law enforcement officers that are charged with keeping Americans safe.”
That is incorrect.
As the libertarian CATO Institute pointed out, the GOP’s 2025 megabill essentially made DHS “shutdown-proof” because it provided ICE with $75 billion in new funding.
“The shutdown last fall made it clear that the administration can continue and expand ICE and CBP operations, all without the approval of Congressional appropriators,” it said.
On Wednesday, Murray pointed out that this fight could be over in hours.
“Here’s the simple truth: if Republicans agreed to simple reforms, all of DHS could be funded tomorrow,” she said. “And if Republicans stopped blocking the bill that I just offered, TSA could be funded today.”
However, for now, the GOP clearly believes that it can gain some political capital by preventing all parts of DHS apart from ICE and CBP from being funded.
Especially in a time of war, that seems like a dangerous game. Essentially, what Republicans seem to hope is that there will be some kind of incident within the US that they can then blame on the Democrats.
If that happens, however, Britt and others will owe the country some answers as to why they thought it would be more important to make sure that ICE could continue operating without any restraints than to fund DHS.
