WASHINGTON- A budget impasse in Congress is poised to halt large swathes of federal operations early Saturday, as lawmakers on Capitol Hill move on to the next flashpoint in negotiations to reopen the government: whether to impose new limits on federal immigration authorities carrying out President Trump's deportation campaign.
Over the next two weeks, Democrats and Republicans will weigh competing demands over how the Department of Homeland Security should carry out arrests, detentions and deportations following the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents this month in Minnesota.
Seeking control of the federal agency, Senate Democrats managed Thursday night to reach a deal with the White House that would temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security, but fund the Pentagon, the State Department, as well as health, education, labor and transportation agencies through September 30.
The agreement is intended to give lawmakers more time to address Democratic demands to rein in ICE tactics while avoiding a partial government shutdown.
The Senate finalized the deal Friday night by a vote of 71 to 29, hours before the midnight deadline to avoid a government shutdown. Approval of the deal was delayed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who objected to parts of the package.
The House expected to take up the legislation Monday. The partial government shutdown will occur until the measure passes the House and Trump signs it into law.
The president supports the deal, which came after Senate Democrats said they would not vote to fund Homeland Security unless reforms to the agency are approved. Among the demands: ban federal agents from wearing masks, require the use of body cameras and require the use of warrants before searching homes and making arrests.
Democrats have also demanded that local and state law enforcement officials have the ability to conduct independent investigations in cases where federal agents are accused of wrongdoing.
The agreement, however, does not include any of those reforms; it includes only the promise of more time to negotiate with no guarantee that the new restrictions will be accepted.
California's two Democratic senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, voted against the Senate deal. Both opposed giving more funding to Homeland Security without reforms in a vote Thursday.
Schiff voted against it because he said he promised not to “give another penny to ICE until we see real reforms, and not just the promised reforms but the legal requirements.”
“I want to see those reforms before I'm prepared to support more funding for these agencies,” Schiff said in a video message posted on X, adding that he didn't see the White House acting in “good faith. I want it in writing and by statute.”
After voting against the measure, Padilla said in a statement: “I have been clear from the beginning: no more money for ICE and CBP without real oversight and accountability.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters Friday morning that Democrats will find out if two weeks is enough time to reach a compromise.
“We'll evaluate whether it's enough time,” Jeffries said. “But it is urgent to address this problem because, as we have seen, ICE is out of control.”
Meanwhile, the lack of reforms in the Senate deal has already raised concerns among some progressives, who argue that the deal falls short of what is needed to curb federal enforcement of immigration law.
“First of all, I'm really disappointed that the Senate leadership is not demanding more right now,” Rep. Robert Garcia, a ranking House Democrat from Long Beach, told reporters on Friday. “This idea that somehow we're going to continue to fund this agency and somehow just spread the pain, I think is absolutely wrong.”
García said it was “scandalous” that the Senate agreement would extend funding for Homeland Security for two weeks without any new requirements.
“I think this idea that somehow we are not immediately demanding the removal of masks and body cameras and all the other reforms, while eliminating this agency that is causing harm, is outrageous,” Garcia said.
Democratic Rep. Judy Chu of Pasadena said in a statement that she had not yet decided whether she would support the Senate deal once it reaches the House of Representatives.
But Chu added: “I cannot support legislation that would increase funding for this agency without providing accountability measures.”
Rep. Kevin Calvert (R-Corona) said in a statement that it is “critical” that lawmakers approve the bipartisan spending package, in part because it included funding for the U.S. military.
“As president of the [House] Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I am especially concerned about the negative impacts of a shutdown at a time when we have a buildup of U.S. military assets in the Middle East,” Calvert said.
Calvert added that Homeland Security operations will continue even during the shutdown because lawmakers provided an influx of funding for the agency in last year's “One Big Beautiful Bill.” But he said he was concerned that any lack of funding would affect other agency operations, including disaster funding and security assistance for major events, such as the upcoming World Cup.
“We need to fund these priorities,” he said.
Other Republican lawmakers have already pointed out the potential obstacles Democrats will face as they try to rein in ICE.
Graham halted consideration of the Senate deal, in part because he wanted the Senate to vote to criminalize local and state officials in sanctuary cities, a term that has no strict definition but generally describes local jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“They can convince me that ICE can be better, but I don't think I'll ever convince them to abandon sanctuary cities because they're married to it on the Democratic side,” Graham said.
Graham also delayed approval of the deal because it included repealing a law that would have allowed senators (including himself) to sue the government if federal investigators gained access to their phones without notifying them. The law required senators to be notified if that happened and sue for up to $500,000 in damages per incident.
“We'll fix the $500,000, count me in, but you guys removed the notice,” Graham said. “I am demanding a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
Other Senate Republicans also expressed concern about Democrats' demands, even as Trump appeared to try to appease them.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said the requirement that federal agents remove their masks during operations was a “clear and obvious attempt to intimidate and endanger our federal agents.”
“When law enforcement becomes dangerous for law enforcement, law enforcement does not survive,” Schmitt said in a Senate speech. “What emerges is not a reform, it is an amnesty by default.”
Despite GOP opposition, most Senate Republicans were willing to join Democrats on Friday and vote in favor of the deal. But there is no certainty that they will join the minority party when negotiations resume in the coming weeks.
Recent history suggests that bipartisan support at the beginning does not guarantee a lasting agreement, particularly when unresolved political disputes remain. The latest government shutdown linked to a debate over health care exposed how quickly negotiations can collapse when a deal is not reached.
In November, a small group of Democrats voted with Republicans to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history by promising to negotiate an extension of health care tax credits that were set to expire in the new year.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), former speaker of the House of Representatives, reminded the public on Friday that Democrats were unable to win Republican support to extend tax credits, resulting in rising health care costs for millions of Americans.
“House Democrats passed a bipartisan solution, but Senate Republicans continue to block this critical relief for millions of Americans,” Pelosi wrote in a post on X.
Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.
