Partial shutdown seems increasingly likely as Democrats demand ICE
changes
[January 29, 2026]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — With a partial government shutdown looming, Senate
Democrats laid out a list of demands Wednesday for the Department of
Homeland Security, including an enforceable code of conduct for federal
agents conducting immigration arrests and a requirement that officers
show identification as the country reels from the deaths of two
protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis.
It remained unclear if President Donald Trump and Republicans would be
willing to meet those demands, even as funding for DHS and a swath of
other government agencies was at risk of expiring Saturday. Irate
Democrats have pledged to block a spending bill unless their demands for
reforms are met.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that the
legislation won't pass until U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is
“reined in and overhauled."
“The American people support law enforcement, they support border
security, they do not support ICE terrorizing our streets and killing
American citizens,” Schumer said.
With an uncertain path ahead, the standoff threatened to plunge the
country into another shutdown just two months after Democrats blocked a
spending bill over expiring federal health care subsidies, a dispute
that closed the government for 43 days as Republicans refused to
negotiate. That shutdown ended when a small group of moderate Democrats
broke away to strike a deal with Republicans, but Democrats are more
united this time after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good
by federal agents.
There’s a lot of “unanimity and shared purpose” within the Democratic
caucus, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said after a lunch meeting Wednesday.
“Boil it all down, what we are talking about is that these lawless ICE
agents should be following the same rules that your local police
department does," Smith said. "There has to be accountability.”
Democrats lay out their demands
As the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement surge goes
on, Schumer said Democrats are asking the White House to “end roving
patrols” in cities and coordinate with local law enforcement on
immigration arrests, including requiring tighter rules for warrants.
Democrats also want an enforceable code of conduct so agents are held
accountable when they violate rules. Schumer said agents should be
required to have “masks off, body cameras on” and carry proper
identification, as is common practice in most law enforcement agencies.
The Democratic caucus is united in those “commonsense reforms” and the
burden is on Republicans to accept them, Schumer said. He has asked
Republicans to separate out the Homeland Security bill from the others
to avoid a broader shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said he was waiting for
Democrats to outline what they want, and he suggested that they need to
be negotiating with the White House. He indicated that he might be open
to some of their demands, but encouraged Democrats and the White House
to talk and find agreement.
Many obstacles to a deal
It was unclear whether Trump would weigh in, or how seriously the White
House was engaged — or whether the two sides could agree on anything
that would satisfy Democrats.
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Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., speaks with reporters following a
closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans on spending legislation
that funds the Department of Homeland Security and a swath of other
government agencies, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan.
28, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The White House had invited some Democrats for a discussion to better
understand their positions and avoid a partial government shutdown, a
senior White House official said, but the meeting did not happen. The
official requested anonymity to discuss the private invitation.
With no serious negotiations underway, a partial shutdown appeared
increasingly likely starting Saturday.
The House passed the six remaining funding bills last week and sent them
to the Senate as a package, and that makes it difficult to strip out the
homeland security portion as Democrats are demanding. Republicans could
break the package apart with the consent of all 100 senators, which
would be complicated, or through a series of votes that would extend
past the Friday deadline.
Even if the Senate could resolve the issue, House Republicans have made
clear they do not want any changes to the bill they have passed. In a
letter to Trump on Tuesday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote
that its members stand with the president and ICE.
“The package will not come back through the House without funding for
the Department of Homeland Security,” according to the letter.
Republican opposition
Several Republican senators have said they would be fine with Democrats’
request to separate the Homeland Security funds for further debate and
pass the other bills in the package. But it was unlikely that Democrats
would find broad GOP support for their demands on ICE.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he’s OK with separating the bills,
but opposed to the Democrats’ proposal to require the immigration
enforcement officers to unmask and show their faces, even as he blamed
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for decisions that he said are
“tarnishing” the agency’s reputation.
“The thing about the masks, I really do disagree,” Tillis said. “You
know, there’s a lot of vicious people out there, and they’ll take a
picture of your face, and the next thing you know, your children or your
wife or your husband are being threatened at home. And that’s just the
reality of the world that we’re in.”
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said that “what happened over the
weekend is a tragedy,” but Democrats shouldn't punish Americans with a
shutdown and a “political stunt.”
Democrats say they won’t back down.
“It is truly a moral moment,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I
think we need to take a stand.”
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