Senate Democrats are considering a deal that would head off a partial government shutdown and give the party time to negotiate new restrictions on immigration operations in response to the killings of US citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.
The talks, confirmed to the Guardian by a Senate aide, come after Senate Democrats demanded a series of reforms on federal agents involved in Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, including a prohibition on wearing masks, the imposition of a code of conduct and independent investigations of violations.
Their ultimatum collided with delicate negotiations in the Senate on passing six spending bills – one of which funds the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – to prevent a partial government shutdown from beginning after Friday.
While talks remain fluid, the aide said the potential deal would see Democrats vote for a short-term funding measure for DHS that would give the party time to negotiate over their proposed reforms, along with passage of the five other bills that authorize through September spending by departments including labor, defense and health and human services.
The Republican Senate majority leader, John Thune, plans to hold a key procedural vote on all six bills on Thursday morning. Democrats have previously signaled they would vote against it, and insisted that the DHS funding bill be considered separately from the other five bills.
“Republicans in Congress cannot allow this violent status quo to continue. They must work with Democrats on legislation, real legislation, strong legislation to rein ICE in,” the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said on Thursday.
“Democrats are ready to pass five bipartisan funding bills in the Senate, we’re ready to pass them today. We’re ready to fund 96% of the federal government today, but the DHS bill still needs a lot of work.”
Any spending legislation requires at least some bipartisan support to clear the 60-vote threshold for advancement in the Senate. The House of Representatives approved all six bills last week before going on recess. If the Senate were to pass a short-term spending measure for DHS, it would have to be approved by the House, which does not return to work until Monday, probably guaranteeing that the department shuts down, at least over the weekend.
A White House official indicated openness to the Democrats’ demands, saying on Thursday that the president “wants the government to remain open, and the administration has been working with both parties to ensure the American people don’t have to endure another shutdown”.
Thune adopted a similar tone towards the Democrats on Wednesday, telling reporters: “We’re anxious to hear what their demands are, what their requests are, what their asks are. I think the administration is willing to sit down with them and have a discussion, perhaps a negotiation about how do we move forward.”
At a press conference in Minneapolis on Thursday morning, Trump’s “border czar”, Tom Homan, noted that the administration has “recognized that certain improvements could and should be made” in the ongoing immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, but did not specify what those looked like or when they would be implemented.
“For the people out there don’t like what ICE is doing, if you want certain laws reformed, then take it up with Congress,” Homan said. “They’re enforcing laws enacted by Congress and signed by president. The same laws have been on the books for the last six presidents I worked for.”
Shrai Popat contributed reporting from Minneapolis
