Senate Democrats came out against the proposal on Tuesday afternoon and are drafting a counterproposal to send to Republicans. House conservatives came out against the deal before it was even announced, signaling the difficulty Republican leadership in both chambers could face to end the monthlong DHS shutdown.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said during a press conference on Tuesday that there needs to be “reform” to ICE included in any DHS deal to end the shutdown.
“Every one of my colleagues, every one, A, believes we should be unified, and B, we need reforms of ICE — every single one,” Schumer said.
“They sent us an offer, and we’ll be sending them an offer back, and I can assure you it will contain significant reform in it,” Schumer added.
Democrats’ opposition is a blow to the Senate GOP negotiators, who thought a deal to fund everything but ICE would gain support across the aisle. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) had told reporters earlier in the day that the deal is a “really good outcome where we’ve moved the Democrats a long way in our direction.”
But the deal gained early opposition from House conservatives, who thought any deal that did not fund ICE’s deportations operations was a “total failure” and “handing a victory to the open-borders amnesty crowd.”
“Democrats shut down Homeland Security to protect illegal aliens,” the House Freedom Caucus said in a Tuesday statement via X. “Why on earth would we hand them exactly what they want by keeping the deportation wing unfunded? We hold the leverage. Don’t surrender it. Fully fund DHS.”
A few Republicans in the Senate also signaled they would be opposed to an everything-but-ICE deal. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said he is a strong “no” vote on any bill that would freeze funding for ICE deportations.
“This doesn’t make any sense with me,” Scott said on CNBC. “Democrats shut down the government cause they want to give amnesty to illegals. I don’t agree with that. They don’t want to fund the part that protects Americans from illegal aliens committing crimes?”
Democrats signaled some pushback earlier on Tuesday. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) had told reporters the caucus was firm on “our insistence that we’re not going to fund an immigration enforcement operation without reform.”
“The problem is that they have everybody at DHS right now doing immigration enforcement. And so we have to recognize that right now, if you give money to [Customs and Border Protection] or [Homeland Security Investigations], you’re providing money for immigration enforcement,” Murphy told Punchbowl News.
Any DHS legislation is likely to hit a roadblock in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will have to decide to push the deal along party lines or rely on Democrats. Johnson can only afford to lose one GOP vote if he goes it alone.
Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that splitting DHS funding up is “not my preference,” noting the House has already passed full funding for the department twice. A third vote is expected in the House on DHS funding legislation this week, which he said is the “responsible way to do this.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has yet to signal where he will fall on the deal. Jeffries said during a press conference on Tuesday that he had not spoken to Schumer about the DHS deal but planned to do so later this afternoon. He said his caucus will evaluate the deal in “good faith.”
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Jeffries added that a bill to fund all but ICE would likely get “strong Democratic support.”
“It’s consistent with the legislation that Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro has already introduced and that we’re working hard to force an up or down vote on the House floor,” Jeffries said. “If it’s something different, then it remains to be seen how House Democrats will react.”
