The fatal shooting of an unarmed woman in Minneapolis by a federal law enforcement officer is threatening to blow up fragile negotiations over government spending that will be coming to a head later this month, creating challenges for leaders in both parties.
House lawmakers have already approved six of the 12 funding bills for fiscal 2026, and bipartisan appropriators were on track to reach a delicate agreement on the remaining bills, which were expected to move as two larger packages over the next two weeks.
But last week’s killing of 37-year-old Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis has infuriated Democrats in both chambers, some of whom are now threatening to withhold their support for funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to demand reforms to the agency.
“There are a lot of Democrats who want to see safeguards put on what ICE is doing,” said one House Democrat, who requested anonymity to discuss the party’s evolving strategy.
Chatter increased around using the DHS funding bill as a cudgel after Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), an appropriator, called for a series of constraints aimed at taking on the department.
“It’s hard to imagine how Democrats are going to vote for a DHS bill that funds this level of illegality and violence without constraints,” Murphy told Axios last week. “There’s got to be some reasonable constraints.”
“I think it is reasonable for Democrats speaking on behalf of the majority of the American public who don’t approve of what ICE is doing to say, ‘If you want to fund the Department of Homeland Security, I want to fund a Department of Homeland Security that is operating in a safe and legal manner,’” Murphy added Sunday in an appearance on “Meet the Press.”
Those proposed constraints are taking various forms.
Some Democrats want to adopt new rules governing ICE, including a ban on face masks and requirements that officers produce warrants before making arrests. Both are part of a proposal that Murphy is cobbling together that also requires Border Patrol agents to remain at the border.
Others want to make it easier to prosecute all civil law enforcement personnel, such as ICE officers, for allegations of wrongdoing, including the use of excessive force. Still others want to suspend all ICE operations in Minnesota pending an investigation — a reflection of a growing Democratic distrust in the agency under President Trump’s reign.
“They’ve gone rogue under Donald Trump; they should be disbanded,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said. “You’re still going to have immigration enforcement, but ICE shouldn’t have any part of it. It’s got to be a new iteration of immigration enforcement.”
Such sentiments are creating headaches for congressional leaders and top appropriators, who had said before the Minneapolis shooting that they were nearing a deal on the outstanding spending bills and were optimistic about avoiding a repeat of last fall’s historic shutdown.
DHS funding is expected to be lumped into one package along with money for the Department of Defense and housing and transportation projects — legislation that had been on track to hit the floor of the House next week, well ahead of the Jan. 30 shutdown deadline.
“There are a lot of issues, but we have to keep focused with regard to appropriations, we have to keep focused on what … funds government and funds the services that [people need],” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “That is the goal, to get them done. And we’re on a very good path to be able to do that.”
The DHS bill is not the only potential barrier to a deal.
Even before the ICE shooting, some Democrats — livid at Trump’s threats to “run” Venezuela — were threatening to withhold their support for the Pentagon spending bill in an effort to bar the deployment of U.S. armed forces in Caracas without explicit congressional approval. Others are furious at the Senate’s refusal to consider a House-passed bill that would revive expired ObamaCare subsidies, urging fellow Democrats to deny votes for funding the Department of Health and Human Services unless the issue is resolved.
Top Democrats say they sympathize with the rank-and-file concerns, but they’re gently trying to divorce those issues from the spending debate in order to prevent another shutdown.
“One has to be a realist about what you can do and what you can’t do in these places,” DeLauro warned.
But whether Democrats are willing to go to the mat on this proposal remains a major question. Some top Democrats who agree with the plans Murphy and progressives have laid out have indicated they still don’t expect this to jeopardize funding the government by the end of the month.
Democrats have shown little appetite for a second shutdown in the four months since they helped force the 43-day impasse late last year over the ObamaCare enhanced subsidies, which expired at the end of December.
“I won’t vote to fund Trump’s ICE operations,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), an appropriator. “It will certainly impact the DHS [appropriations]. Not necessarily these other pieces, but … we’re going to have a conversation about the way forward.”
“We don’t want a shutdown again,” he continued. “As before, it’s going to be important that the Trump administration be willing to work on a bipartisan basis. They don’t get a blank check for their lawless operations. That’s going to be an issue going forward.”
Others were more blunt.
“There are other ways to deal with ICE,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), another appropriator, when asked if Democrats should use the appropriations process to go after the agency.
Similarly, Republicans believe the brewing fight over ICE in the appropriations process is misplaced.
“We fund ICE. ICE enforcement is done through [the Senate Judiciary Committee],” said Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), an Appropriations panel member. “You’ve got to take a step and look at all of the great things that the Department of Homeland Security does,” she said, pointing to the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Transportation Security Administration.
“I’m working to find a pathway forward on all of it,” she said. “That’s up to them if they don’t want to negotiate in good faith.”
Tossing another wrench into passing the remaining funding bills is timing on the Senate side. The upper chamber was hoping to move expeditiously to the three-bill “minibus” the House overwhelmingly approved last week, which included spending measures for energy and water, science, and the departments of Interior, Commerce and Justice.
The chamber instead must complete work on the Venezuela war powers resolution, which was discharged Thursday when five Republicans voted with every Democrat to advance it.
The Senate still has to hold another procedural vote on the measure, followed by 10 hours of debate by members and a limited vote-a-rama on related amendments. A final vote will happen after that, which will burn key floor time Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) had hoped to use for the minibus.
Further complicating matters is the Senate is slated to be out of town for recess next week for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Thune told reporters he still expects to pass the House-passed minibus by week’s end.
“Funding will get done this week, yes,” Thune said.