Congress could be barreling toward a shutdown this week as Democrats demand changes to the spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security, threatening to tank the full package that would fund half of the budget for fiscal year 2026.
Nearly all Senate Democrats have come out against the spending package that is set for a final vote this week, increasing the chances of a partial government shutdown at the start of the weekend. Democratic leaders say the party is withholding its support unless substantial changes are made to the DHS portion, specifically in relation to funding for federal immigration officers.
“If Leader (John) Thune insists on holding a vote on DHS legislation that he knows will not pass, then he will guarantee yet another unnecessary government shutdown this Friday,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on Tuesday. “And the shutdown will be on Leader Thune’s shoulders.”
The Senate is expected to vote on Thursday on the six final appropriations bills for the 2026 fiscal year, but after federal immigration officers fatally shot a man in Minneapolis over the weekend, Democrats are pushing to remove the DHS portion. Instead, Democratic lawmakers are pushing for significant reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement that go beyond what is currently required under law.
The DHS funding bill that passed the House last week contains stricter guardrails for ICE agents that were negotiated along bipartisan lines. That includes $20 million that “must be used” to purchase body cameras for ICE and Border Patrol officials while conducting operations as well as another $2 million to provide de-escalation training for agents who regularly interact with the public.
But now Democrats are demanding more targeted language to rein in how those agents operate.
A handful of Republican senators, such as Utah Sen. Mike Lee, have rejected any changes to the current spending package, arguing the spending levels for DHS and specifically ICE must stay the same.
“Just as we cannot allow the mob to veto federal law enforcement, we should not give Democrats any opportunity to dictate terms for the security of our homeland,” Lee said in a statement to the Deseret News. “Remember, Joe Biden and the Democrats let millions of people into our country illegally, and they want nothing more than to return to that broken system. Absolutely not.”
What are Democrats demanding in DHS bill?
Although an official list of demands has not yet been issued by Democrats, several senators have expressed support for similar reforms they say must be implemented in the funding package before they will vote to advance.
The majority party will need at least seven Democrats to help advance the funding bill, and all but one of the Democratic senators have publicly said they will not vote in favor.
One of the top demands among Democrats is to require ICE agents to issue warrants before arresting or detaining undocumented immigrants. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., one of the most vocal Democratic opponents of the current funding bill, said such language would be necessary to undo what he calls a “‘Show Me Your Papers’ Department of Homeland Security.”
“(We need to) make sure they’re targeting individual immigrants instead of just wandering through communities with guns on their hips, asking people to show their identification,” Murphy said in a video posted on social media.
Democrats are also demanding that immigration officers must wear identification on their uniforms as well as utilize body cameras when they are conducting operations. Additionally, the DHS must mandate “clear use-of-force standards” that prioritize de-escalation tactics, according to Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona.
The truth is, it does not have to be this way,” Gallego wrote in an op-ed for Fox News. “We can secure the border without treating entire communities like suspects. We can enforce immigration laws without terrorizing communities or putting innocent people in danger.”
Democrats are also pushing restrictions on where agencies can send officers, arguing Border Patrol agents should stay along the southern border as they are “not trained to be in our cities,” Murphy said. The Connecticut Democrat also wants legislation to prohibit ICE from entering church buildings and schools, he said.
Republicans wary of changing funding bill due to short timeline
Thune expressed concern about changing the current spending package, noting there’s not enough time to finalize a deal before the midnight deadline on Friday.
Democratic leaders such as Schumer have called on Thune to split DHS from the rest of the funding bill for further negotiations. However, Thune called that a “risky proposition” because any changes to the package would need approval from the House — which is far from a guarantee under current margins.
“I still think if there are things the Democrats want in the Homeland bill or addressed in the context of the situation, that they ought to make those clear and known and see to what degree the administration may be able to address them,” Thune said on Tuesday. “So I would prefer that there be a way that we keep the package together.”
One way to do that could be through executive orders issued by the Trump administration, a route Republicans would prefer to keep the spending bill intact. However, top Democrats have swatted down those suggestions — arguing they can’t trust the Trump administration to enact substantial reforms.
“The fix should come from Congress,” Schumer said on Tuesday. “The public can’t trust the administration to do the right thing on its own.”
What would a partial shutdown do to federal agencies?
Although shutdown conversations are mostly limited to immigration reform, a partial shutdown would have far-reaching effects way past the border.
The six-bill spending package includes funding for nearly a dozen executive departments such as the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Defense, Education, and more. It also includes funding for agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the SEC, among other things.
Even if the DHS component was removed from the package, it would leave several federal agencies without funding that are unrelated to border security. Those include FEMA, the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, and more.
