Schumer: Democrats will block funding package if it includes homeland security money

In the wake of another fatal shooting of a US citizen in Minnesota by a federal officer, the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said Saturday evening that his party will block a funding package next week if it includes money for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).The announcement, which dramatically escalates the potential for another government shutdown, comes as anger toward DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intensifies among the party after a group of federal agents violently restrained and then fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis Saturday morning.“What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling – and unacceptable in any American city,” Schumer, a New York senator, said in a statement. “Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE. I will vote no.”“Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included,” he added.The House passed the bill this week, although Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said previously that most Democrats would not support the funding for ICE. Seven Democrats, however, moved it over the line.Now the funding package, which currently calls for $64.4bn for the DHSincluding $10bn for ICE, needs 60 votes to avoid a filibuster and pass the Senate. Republicans currently control 53 seats and would need Democratic support to pass the bipartisan package.The package also includes funding for other government agencies including the defense, state , education, labor and transportation departments.After the shooting of Pretti, a handful of Senate Democrats who previously appeared supportive of the funding package began to announce their opposition.“The Trump administration and Kristi Noem are putting undertrained, combative federal agents on the streets with no accountability,” Nevada senator Catherine Cortez Masto said in a statement. “They are oppressing Americans and are at odds with local law enforcement. This is clearly not about keeping Americans safe. It’s brutalizing US citizens and law-abiding immigrants.”Jacky Rosen, Nevada’s other senator, wrote on X: “As a member of the U.S. Senate, I have the responsibility to hold the Trump Administration accountable when I see abuses of power — like we are seeing from ICE right now. That is why I’ll be voting against any government funding package that contains the bill that funds this agency, until we have guardrails in place to curtail these abuses of power and ensure more accountability and transparency.”And Mark Warner, a Democratic senator for Virginia, wrote: “I cannot and will not vote to fund D.H.S. while this administration continues these violent federal takeovers of our cities.”