Fury Over ICE Shooting in Minnesota Raises Shutdown Risk
Good evening. Much of the country is still recovering tonight after being walloped by the massive snowstorm this weekend. Senate plans to fund much of the government through September also suffered a gut punch this weekend after the deadly ICE shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, raising the chances of a partial government shutdown after Friday. Here's what's happening.
Fury Over ICE Shooting in Minnesota Raises Shutdown Risk
Growing outrage over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions - further inflamed by Saturday's ICE killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and by the Trump administration's version of the incident, which was plainly contradicted by eyewitness video of the shooting - means there is now a growing likelihood of a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.
Congress has already passed six of the 12 annual spending bills for this fiscal year, but with much of the government operating on stopgap funding and a January 30 deadline looming, the Senate planned to vote this week on the remaining six bills, which were approved by the House last week. Five of those bills, providing funding for the Pentagon as well as the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor, Education, Transportation, State and other federal agencies and programs, have broad bipartisan support. But the bill providing $64.4 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, including $10 billion for ICE, already faced Democratic opposition - and that opposition got ratcheted up by Pretti's fatal shooting, the second high-profile killing by immigration officers in Minneapolis this month following the shooting of Renee Good.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced Saturday that Democrats would block the funding package if the Homeland Security bill is included, calling the measure "woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE." Several centrist Democrats who had helped negotiate the deal ending last year's record shutdown also said they would oppose the spending package if it included the DHS bill.
"We have bipartisan agreement on 96% of the budget," Nevada's Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said in a statement. "We've already passed six funding bills. Let's pass the remaining five bipartisan bills and fund essential agencies while we continue to fight for a Department of Homeland Security that respects Americans' constitutional rights and preserves federal law enforcement's essential role to keep us safe."
Schumer also called on Senate Republicans to pass the five funding bills that have bipartisan backing and rework the Homeland Security measure. The House, which is out of session this week, would have to pass the funding bills again if the package is changed.
Faced with a choice, Senate Republican leaders reportedly want to move ahead with votes on all six bills. To pull the DHS funding out of the full spending package, Senate Majority Leader John Thune would need the consent of all 100 senators. Some Republicans have reportedly already pushed back against any effort to "defund" DHS, and many GOP lawmakers would likely object to any Democratic proposals for changes to ICE. "Now is not the time to defund one of our major national security priorities: border protection. Nor is it the right time to defund law enforcement trying to clean up the mess created by the Biden illegal immigrant invasion," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote in a post on X.
On the other hand, withholding the DHS bill likely wouldn't have much effect on the ICE operations given that last year's Republican reconciliation bill provided a $75 billion funding boost for the agency.
"ICE is now sitting on a massive slush fund it can tap, whether or not we pass a funding bill," Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, said in a post on X Monday. "But we all saw another American shot and killed in broad daylight. There must be accountability, and we must keep pushing Republicans to work with us to rein in DHS."
Murray, who had negotiated the funding bills and urged her colleagues to support them, announced on Saturday that she would not back the DHS bill. "Federal agents cannot murder people in broad daylight and face zero consequences," she wrote. "The DHS bill needs to be split off from the larger funding package before the Senate-Republicans must work with us to do that."
Despite those Democratic demands, the White House on Monday called for the Senate to pass the full six-bill package. "At this point, the White House supports the bipartisan work that was done to advance the bipartisan appropriations package, and we want to see that passed," press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, noting that the DHS bill also includes vital funding for FEMA that may be needed to respond to the massive winter storm that swept through much of the country. "We absolutely do not want to see that funding lapse, and we want the Senate to move forward with passing the bipartisan appropriations package."
Trump administration officials have defended the shootings of both Good and Pretti as justified.
What's next: The Senate postponed its first votes of the week until Tuesday because of the snowstorm. It is expected to hold its first votes on the funding package on Thursday
$16 Billion in Earmarks Smoothed the Way for the Spending Bills
Fiscal conservatives have long railed against earmarks, those bits of funding for specific projects that lawmakers sometimes insert into spending bills. Republicans affiliated with the tea party movement managed to ban their use back in 2010, but they've made their way back into the appropriations process, with the funding package currently under consideration in the Senate containing thousands of them, worth nearly $16 billion.
Before the Trump administration's violent immigration crackdown in Minneapolis created new hurdles for the legislation, those earmarks helped smooth the path for the bipartisan funding bills, Politico's Jennifer Scholtes, Katherine Tully-McManus and Mia McCarthy write Monday, even though some hardliners still oppose their use.
"When a majority of the United States House and a large chunk of the Senate seemingly want to advance earmarks, there's only so much you can do," Rep. Chip Roy, a fiscal hawk from Texas, told Politico. "I've long stated I think it's the currency of corruption, and we shouldn't do it. But, you know, members like to do it."
Republican Rep. Mike Flood, who secured nearly $30 million for projects in his Nebraska district, said the situation is pretty straightforward. "It's not worth being in Congress if you can't find ways to help your district," he told Politico.
Flood also said that, contrary to the fiscal hawks, the use of earmarks helped keep spending basically steady. "For all the things that people say are wrong with Congress, this process is working. And it's working well," he said. "And we are bringing this in under budget."
Most in US Say Housing, Education Are Unaffordable
As President Trump prepares to travel to Iowa Tuesday as part of his effort to convince Americans that he is responding to their concerns about affordability, a new poll finds that millions of Americans now believe that many of the basic components of middle-class life are out of reach.
In a New York Times/Siena poll taken January 12 to 17, 58% of respondents said that education is now unaffordable, with only 8% saying it is mostly affordable. Housing is also seen as unaffordable, with 54% saying that housing is beyond their means.
Healthcare is another problematic issue, with 47% of respondents saying it is unaffordable, while 13% said it is mostly affordable and another 37% called it somewhat affordable. Asked about having a family, 44% said it is unaffordable, 13% said it is mostly affordable and 38% called it somewhat affordable.
Food and utilities are less problematic, with majorities reporting that they are somewhat affordable. Still, more people said they are unaffordable (26% for food, 23% for utilities) than mostly affordable (14% and 19% respectively).
In the Times story about the poll, a 21-year-old delivery driver who earns three times the minimum wage summed up the perspective of many Americans who are feeling squeezed by high costs. "It's harder to be middle class nowadays," he said.
Quote of the Day
"It's boring as hell."
– President Trump, in an interview with New York magazine about his health, explaining why he closed his eyes and seemed to doze off during a Cabinet meeting. "I'm going around a room, and I've got 28 guys - the last one was three and a half hours. I have to sit back and listen, and I move my hand so that people will know I'm listening," Trump added.
Fiscal News Roundup
- Trump Sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis Amid Backlash Over ICE – Time
- Border Patrol Commander Bovino and Some Agents Plan to Leave Minneapolis, Sources Say – NBC News
- Funding Deal Begins to Unravel as Senate Democrats Vow to Oppose DHS Bill Over Alex Pretti Shooting in Minnesota – Associated Press
- Schumer: Democrats Will Speed Up Non-DHS Funding Bills Ahead of Shutdown Deadline – The Hill
- Republicans Won't Split the DHS Funding Bill as a Partial Shutdown Grows Likelier – NOTUS
- Senate Democrats Plot Strategy as DHS Standoff Deepens Heading Into Shutdown Week – NBC News
- Will the Government Shut Down Again? What We Know Before Jan. 30 Deadline – USA Today
- Lawmakers Exploring Options for DHS Bill in Critical Week for Government Funding Talks – CNN
- White House Backs Appropriations Package With DHS Funding – Politico
- Republicans Divided on ICE Tactics as Shutdown Looms – The Hill
- GOP Pitches Student Loan Repayment as Americans Struggle to Keep Up With Bills – Politico
- Judge Strikes Down Trump Freeze on EV Charger Funds – The Hill
- Carney Calls Trump's Tariff Threats Bluster Ahead of US-Canada Free Trade Talks – Associated Press
- US Treasury Department Ends Contracts With Booz Allen Hamilton After Trump Tax Leak – Associated Press
Views and Analysis
- ICE Shootings Are Freaking Out the GOP. They're Afraid to Tell Trump – Jonathan Martin, Politico
- Republican Revolt Forces Trump's Hand on Minnesota – Nia Prater, New York
- How a Partial Government Shutdown Over ICE Would Impact Immigration Enforcement – Nik Popli, Time
- Democrats Can and Should Use a Shutdown Threat to Abolish ICE – Logan McMillen, The Hill
- The Main Driver of Trump's Bad Polling – Ian Ward, Politico
- The Trump Administration Is Lying to Our Faces. Congress Must Act – New York Times Editorial Board
- The Unraveling of the Global and Domestic Order – Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal, Bloomberg
- Trump Tries - Again - to Deliver a Winning Message on Affordability – Matt Voser, Washington Post
- Trump's Tariffs Can't Cover a Bill This Staggering – Washington Post Editorial Board
- Trump Has a Solution for Student Loans. Forgiveness Isn't It – Preston Cooper, New York Times
- The Trump Administration Now Thinks Clean Air Is Worthless – Richard L. Revesz, New York Times