Having reached an agreement on the remaining bills that would fund the government ahead of a January 30 shutdown deadline, Congressional negotiators on Tuesday released a 1,059-page bipartisan “minibus” that covers the Pentagon and the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security.
While the release of the $1.2 trillion package reduces the odds of a shutdown at the end of the month, the legislation includes funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which could become a flashpoint as lawmakers battle over the agency’s historically aggressive enforcement actions and the recent killing by an ICE officer of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis.
Some Democrats are threatening to reject any legislation that fails to rein in ICE. The package “leaves in place an additional $18 billion a year for ICE, tripling the budget,” Rep. Ro Khanna said. “It is a surrender to Trump’s lawlessness. I will be a strong no and help lead the opposition to it.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, another California Democrat, said last week that he wants to see reforms for ICE in the spending legislation. “And if there aren’t reforms, I’m going to be a hard no on that bill, the DHS bill,” he said.
Democrats’ options are limited, though, since the major boost to ICE came last summer, when Republicans gave the agency an additional $75 billion to dramatically expand its capacities.
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said she supports the spending package, noting that it also includes essential funding for agencies including the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration.
“I understand that many of my Democratic colleagues may be dissatisfied with any bill that funds ICE,” she said in a statement. “I share their frustration with the out-of-control agency. I encourage my colleagues to review the bill and determine what is best for their constituents and communities.”
What comes next: The House is expected to vote on its final spending package by the end of the week, with the controversial Homeland Security funding measure potentially receiving separate consideration. If successful, the Senate would then have several days to approve the six bills it needs to pass to avoid a shutdown at month’s end.